Did They Really Say That?!?

Normally I only post one citation at a time to examine, but this time I’m going “plural.”  For all of these quotes my “hat” is “tipped” to Life After Ministry.

There is no way to make sense out of life without a knowledge of the doctrine of premortal life. The idea that mortal birth is the beginning is preposterous. There is no way to explain life if you believe that.

Boyd K. Packer, “The Mystery of Life,” Ensign, 10/83.

Well, can a single Mormon show me from scripture where people first exist as spirit children of a man-god and then are born mortal? If that was so, why do we not remember a pre-mortal existence? And if man was already existing as a spirit, then why did God have to create man — i.e., Adam and Eve? It is really quite easy to make sense out of life by reading what the Bible says about our beginnings, our need to please God while living, and the FACT that there is no chance of salvation after death.

The grand reason of the burst of public sentiment in anathemas upon Christ and his disciples, causing his crucifixion, was evidently based upon polygamy, according to the testimony of the philosophers who rose in that age. A belief in the doctrine of a plurality of wives caused the persecution of Jesus and his followers. We might almost think that they [Jesus and his followers] were Mormons. 

Jedidiah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses, Vol.1, pp.345-46.

When I read the Bible it tells me two things: (1) Jesus was persecuted by the Pharisees and Sadducees because he up-ended their world of legalistic false teachings. (2) Jesus was not married; nowhere in the Bible does it even hint at such a thing. Not only that, God takes a very dim view of polygamy, as I demonstrated in this article, which means to be a polygamous man Jesus would have to be sinning and therefore not God in the flesh.  By the way, Joseph Smith invented the doctrine of polygamy to cover up his multiple adulterous affairs.

And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech. And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record.  But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof.

Mormon 9:32-34, Book of Mormon.

This one is actually quite funny because of how it is nothing but a way of excusing away mistakes and lies. Never has there been any evidence of a language known as “Reformed Egyptian,” and since the Egyptians were enemies of the Hebrews why would they use their enemy’s language rather than their own? And why is there no evidence of Egyptian or Hebrew found in the Americas at the time these “Hebrew” people were supposedly over here? And why would they alter a language, Hebrew, that would be considered more sacred that Egyptian? And if they needed larger plates, why didn’t they make them larger? And even if they are using another language, why would it have “imperfections” in the transcribing process?

Here Joseph Smith again broke with existing false traditions. It had been taught that God created the earth out of nothing, by the fiat of his word. Instead, Joseph declared that the earth was made from existing materials. That is, the earth was organized rather than created. Latter-day Saints always speak of the “creation” of the earth in that sense. 

John A. Widstoe, Joseph Smith – Seeker After Truth, Prophet of God, pg. 158

Genesis says “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Notice it says “in the beginning;” meaning there was no beginning of previously existing matter to create out of — the creation WAS the beginning.

Some have said that I was very presumptuous to say that Brother Brigham was my God and Saviour, Brother Joseph was his God and the one that gave Joseph the keys of the kingdom was his God which was Peter. Jesus Christ was his God and (the) Father of Jesus Christ was Adam.

Journal of Wilford Woodruff, April 10, 1852.

So according to Woodruff, and the entire LDS, there are multiple gods and multiple saviors. Can the LDS then explain why all through the Bible it says over and over again that there is one God? 1 Timothy 2:5 says there is ONE God, and ONE Savior to mediate between God and man, and that Savior is Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 43:11 says there is only one God, and that there is no other savior. Do the LDS really want another person to be their god and savior?!?!

When it comes to the LDS — the Mormon Church and its leaders — one can never run out of unbiblical, shocking statements.

Odds and Ends

It’s been a while since I posted a collection of links to good articles teaching you about Mormonism.  You will notice that the majority of the links are to articles on the excellent Life After Ministry blog.  If you have any interest in studying Mormonism, or if your are a Mormon seeking the truth about you faith, I highly recommend you subscribe to that blog.

Well, hold on to your seat, because here is some good reading by following these links.

Is Mormonism Christian? Are Mormons Christian?

The Gospel According to Mormonism.

The 2nd Most Stupid Quote of All Time.  This one really shows a major problem with LDS doctrine.

Investigating Mormonism 2019.  Good resource with a chart showing differences between Mormon doctrine and the Bible.

Colossians 1:16 succinctly states that Jesus created everything.  However, the Mormons claim this is not so. For them Michael the Archangel help Jesus, and then God the Father took over for the creation of man. The real conundrum for them is that they can’t even keep their creation story straight!

Did you know the most important goal for you to be saved, according to Mormons, is to get a temple recommend and perform temple rituals? How can this be true when the Bible says our most important goal for salvation is to place our faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice?

Salvation for the Mormons is really impossible. If you would like to see a more in-depth example of how a Mormon can never obtain forgiveness, read this article.

Did you know that the Mormons are still praying for vengeance against those who “persecuted” their Church in the 19th century? Of course if they would tell the truth, you’d learn that the vast majority of said persecution was responding to Mormon behaviors and threats against those among whom they settled!

The Mormons can’t settle on who that angel is who tops their temples. When you have a made-up religion, you really need to keep all your stories straight!

Here’s a look at a question I’ve thought about for a long time: how is Jesus the ONLY begotten in Pre-Existence? Thinking about this brought me back to another problem with the doctrine of Pre-Existence, and that is the problem of Mary: in the pre-existent spirit world she was a sister to Jesus and Satan, and everyone else (including you and me!) So if she was “Heavenly Father’s” daughter in the spiritual realm of pre-existence, and their God came to earth and had sex with her so she could conceive the body for Jesus to inhabit, isn’t that an incestuous relationship between their man-god and his daughter?

A question for you Mormons: Is tithing mandatory or voluntary?

I think that can be enough boggling of your mind for today!

Did They Really Say That?!?

“God never made something out of nothing; it is not in the economy or law by which the worlds were, are, or will exist.  There is an eternity before us, and it is full of matter; and if we but understand enough of the Lord and his ways, we would say that he took of this matter and organized the earth from it.  How long it has been organized it is not for me to say, and I do not care anything about it.”

Brigham Young, 14 May 1871, Journal of Discourses, 14:116

According to the Bible, nothing existed before God created everything from nothing:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Gen 1:1

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”  John 1:3

“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”  Col. 1:16

“In the beginning” means that there was nothing before God created time.  Matter is something, which means it had to be created.  Mormons need for matter to be existent because they have to have an eternal regression of gods begetting gods.  However, Scripture is plain that there is only one God who is eternally existent, with no gods before or after him (Isa. 43:10).