Mormons - a summary
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 29 July 2009 16:30
- Written by John Draper
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Official name: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
History
- 1805: Founder: Joseph Smith Jr. was born
- 1820: Joseph Smith's alleged "First Vision" = Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Smith and told him not to join any of the churches for they were "all" wrong.
- 1827: Smith allegedly received the "Gold Plates" from the Angel Moroni from which the Book of Mormon was translated.
- 1830: Book of Mormon was published and the Church was organized with the help of Sidney Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt under the name the "Church of Christ."
- 1834: Church name was changed to "Church of the Latter Day Saints."
- 1838: Church name changed to its final form, "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
- 1831-1838: Church operated from Kirtland, Ohio and built its first temple there.
- 1831-1838: Mormons settled in Independence (Jackson Country) and Far West (Caldwell County), Missouri. In 1838, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon relocated church headquarters from Kirtland to Far West, but their stay was short-lived as many conflicts with non-Mormon residents led to their expulsion from the state by Governor Bogg's Extermination Order against them.
- 1839-1844: Church headquarters operated from Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith was appointed Mayor of the city until his death in 1844.
- 1843: Doctrine and Covenants Section 132 was recorded. This revelation authorized the taking of "virgins" in plural marriage. Many believe that in addition to his wife Emma, Joseph Smith married 33 additional wives, one as young as 14 years old.
- 1844: Joseph Smith taught his famous "King Follett" discourse on the nature of God as an "exalted man." When the first edition of the Nauvoo Expositor paper exposed Joseph Smith's teachings on the plurality of gods and polygamy, Joseph ordered the destruction of the press and was quickly arrested. As a mob stormed the Carthage jail, Smith died in a gun battle in which he killed two men and injured another.
- 1847: Mormon Pioneers under the leadership of 2nd LDS Prophet Brigham Young's leadership arrive in the Salt Lake Valley.
Mormon Doctrines
- Three Gods: Father, Son, Holy Ghost.
- The Father (Heavenly Father) is an exalted "Man" who lived on an earth like us and progressed to godhood. He is married to "Heavenly Mother" and together they procreate spirit babies to be born into physical human bodies on earth.
- Jesus is the "spirit brother" of Lucifer and all mankind. He was created by a procreative act between Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother.
- Jesus and Lucifer each offered competing plans of salvation. When Jesus' plan was chosen over Lucifer's plan, 1/3 of God's spirit children followed Lucifer in rebelling.
- Mankind had a pre-mortal, pre-existent life in a spirit world prior to being born into human bodies on earth. Those who fought with Jesus in the battle against Lucifer and the rebellious spirit-brothers were rewarded - those most valiant with white skin.
- Marriage for eternity in a LDS temple is an essential step toward exaltation as a "god" like Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother with the hope of populating planets like our earth.
- Three heavens are three kingdoms where people will live after death: Telestial, Terrestrial, Celestial.
- All except the sons of perdition (apostates) will inherit salvation in one of three kingdoms of heaven. Hell is only temporary punishment for the wicked.
- Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood authority is required to receive saving ordinances necessary to enter the highest heaven. This "authority" is found only in the LDS Church.
- Baptism is essential for salvation in the highest heaven.
- Those who died without hearing the LDS gospel are given a 2nd chance to receive it in "Paradise" and have "baptism for the dead" performed by LDS relatives so they can progress in eternity.
Many doctrines have been changed
Many doctrines which were once taught by the LDS church, and held to be fundamental, essential and "eternal", have been abandoned. Whether we feel that the church was correct in abandoning them is not the point; rather, the point is that a church claiming to be the church of God takes one "everlasting" position at one time and the opposite position at another, all the time claiming to be proclaiming the word of God. Some examples are:
- The Adam-God doctrine (Adam is God the Father);
- the United Order (all property of church members is to be held in common, with title in the church);
- Plural Marriage (polygamy; a man must have more than one wife to attain the highest degree of heaven);
- the Curse of Cain (the black race is not entitled to hold God's priesthood because it is cursed; this doctrine was not abandoned until 1978);
- Blood Atonement (some sins - apostasy, adultery, murder, interracial marriage - must be atoned for by the shedding of the sinner's blood, preferably by someone appointed to do so by church authorities);
All of these doctrines were proclaimed by the reigning prophet to be the Word of God, "eternal," "everlasting," to govern the church "forevermore." All have been abandoned by the present church.
Contradictions
- Joseph Smith claimed to be a "prophet." He frequently prophesied future events "by the power of God." Many of these prophecies are recorded in the LDS scripture Doctrine and Covenants. Almost none have been fulfilled, and many cannot now be fulfilled because the deeds to be done by the persons named were never done and those persons are now dead. Many prophecies included dates for their fulfillment, and those dates are now long past, the events never having occurred.
- Joseph Smith died not as a martyr, but in a gun battle in which he fired a number of shots. He was in jail at the time, under arrest for having ordered the destruction of a Nauvoo newspaper which dared to print an exposure (which was true) of his secret sexual liaisons. At that time he had announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States, set up a secret government, and secretly had himself crowned "King of the Kingdom of God."
- Since the founding of the church down to the present day the church leaders have not hesitated to lie, to falsify documents, to rewrite or suppress history, or to do whatever is necessary to protect the image of the church. Many Mormon historians have been excommunicated from the church for publishing their findings on the truth of Mormon history.
Mormon Practices
In addition, they have some unusual practices - a short selection:
- To enter the highest degree of heaven (the "Celestial Kingdom"), Mormons must be married, a faithful and obedient member of the church and do everything commanded by the church authorities. They undergo a personal "worthiness" interview with the local church authorities inquiring into their private life and religious and social activities.
- Mormons donate at least ten percent of their income to the church as tithing. [Although this is common in exploitive religions]
- The use of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea is forbidden
- Mormons are expected to fulfill any work assignment given them. These assignments may be teaching, record keeping, janitorial work, cannery or farm work, helping in the Sunday nursery - any job that needs to be done. The members who perform these jobs, even those involving sensitive pastoral counseling, receive no formal training whatsoever (there is no paid, trained clergy).
- Mormons are expected to be unquestioningly obedient to church authorities in whatever they might tell you to do. Discussion of whether a decree from above is correct is discouraged. Even if they should say something which contradicts what a previous prophet may have said, the rule is "A living prophet takes precedence over a dead prophet."
- Only Mormons are allowed to enter the temple for a marriage ceremony.
Most of the above came from : Recovery from Mormonism Worth a visit - there's much more there.
Because Mormons claim to be Christian, they are categorized as Christian in CobourgAtheist.com However, many dispute this and you can see why from their history,