Salvation Summaries

Below is a letter we wrote to a Mormon missionary we had become friends with over a period of six months (I changed the name to protect her identity).  We had just received word that she was going to be transferred to another location within a few days, so we decided to quickly throw a going away party for her.  We also wrote her a letter and gave her a gift (Unveiling Grace: The Story of How We Found Our Way out of the Mormon Church), but told her not to read the letter or open the gift until she got back to her apartment.  This was our final attempt to try to persuade her to at least consider some of the problems with the Mormon church.

We gave her our letter in November 2018, and have not heard from her since then.  However, the partner she was with met with us one more time, and told us that she could not meet with us anymore because of our efforts to convert them.  Also, they “turned in” the book we gave Sister “Mary” to their supervisor because of its criticism of Mormonism.

Although I’ve written several detailed posts about Mormonism, this letter summarizes the main concerns Christians have with Mormonism, so feel free to refer to it in your encounters with them.  Also, the book I mentioned above is a fascinating read about a Mormon family that converted to Christianity.  If you have a desire to witness to Mormons, you might consider reading this book.

Letter

Dear Sister Mary,

What a joy it has been to get to know you over the past few months.  From eating meals with you, cooking s’mores around a fire, and even attending (our) church with you, you have certainly made a favorable and lasting impression upon us.  If a Christian were defined as someone who has conviction in their religious beliefs and is thoughtful, kind, considerate, and a sheer delight to be around, you would be a strong one for sure.

But because a Christian is defined differently, it is with great sadness to us that you are leaving now.  We wanted additional time with you to share more of what the Bible says a Christian is and to further contrast this with the teachings of Mormonism.  Although Mormons believe in Jesus and talk about him, the Jesus and God that Mormons believe in are different from the Jesus and God of the Bible, and the Mormon gospel is different too.  Because of this, we believe many Mormons who think they are Christians may not be, and the negative consequences of this are eternal.

Religion is a sensitive topic for most people, making it difficult to disagree with someone’s beliefs without upsetting them, but out of our love and concern for you, we have decided to take a chance and share with you our concerns.  We believe that most Mormons who have grown up as a Mormon; who spend most of their time with Mormon relatives and friends; who immerse themselves in the Mormon way of life and culture; and who infrequently read anything that is contrary to Mormon beliefs are simply unaware of the many concerns that Christians – like us – have with Mormonism.  In fact, it dumbfounds Christians as to how and why so many intelligent Mormon people can’t see what we see.  What seems so clear and obvious to us is, for some reason, hidden from their eyes.  Below we have highlighted some key areas where our beliefs and views differ from Mormons.  There are many other areas of disagreement, but we won’t discuss them here (this letter is already too long!).

Key Areas where Christians differ from Mormons

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith is either the greatest prophet of God who has ever lived, or he’s a false prophet who has led millions astray.  We know that Mormons revere Joseph Smith, sing about him and truly believe who he claims to be. From my reading of the book, The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, it is obvious that he was a deeply religious man.

However, we believe the evidence that is available for all to see – but off limits to most Mormons or blinding to them – is clear that Joseph Smith was not a true prophet of God.  The main reasons for this are:

• Polygamy – I wrote about this to some extent in my document to you comparing what Jesus said to what Joseph Smith and Mormons believe, but there is much more information on this. The more you look into it, the more troubling it becomes. Polygamy goes well beyond adultery to include lust, deception, pride, selfishness, etc. From what we have read, Joseph married women as young as 14, he married women who were already married, he may have used coercion to get at least one to marry him (e.g., You and your family will have assurance of eternal life if you marry me, etc.) and may have lied about his polygamy relationships.  Clearly, this is not what a prophet of God would do.

• False prophecies – according to the Bible, it only takes one false prophecy to disqualify a person from being a prophet of God, and from what we have found, not all of Joseph Smith’s prophecies came true. I detailed one of these in my document that compared Jesus’ words to those of Joseph Smith and Mormonism (about the return of Christ in 1890).  According to one source, there are a number of other prophecies Joseph Smith made about Missouri, New York and even Joseph Smith’s son, David, that never came true. Because Joseph Smith made prophecies that turned out to be false, He cannot be a true prophet of God.

• Changes in doctrine – if you closely review Joseph Smith’s teachings from the early time periods to the late time periods in the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, or the Book of Mormon to later writings such as the Pearl of Great Price, D&C or the King Follet Discourse, you can clearly see that his doctrines changed over time. One of the most important changes was his view of God, which changed from the existence of one God (1 Nephi 13:41, 2 Nephi 31:21, Mormon 7:7) to a plurality of gods.  According to one reliable source, even Joseph Smith’s account of his First Vision changed, where earlier versions did not show both the Father and Son as separate and distinct gods. The change in Joseph Smith’s doctrine can also be seen in the Book of Abraham, where he sought to emphasize his view on the plurality of gods in the Genesis creation account by inserting “the Gods” in many places. Further, I have read that the teachings of the Mormon prophets over time, and as recorded in the Journal of Discourses, are not all consistent with the teachings of Mormonism today.  This cannot take place if the teachings came from God, for what was considered true doctrine in the late 1800’s must be considered true today. If they are not, the doctrines would have been made by man, not God.

• Different gospel – Joseph Smith’s gospel is drastically different from the gospel in the Bible, and rather than restore the true gospel, it contradicts it. The gospel to Mormons is about becoming a god according to the teachings of Joseph Smith; the gospel to Christians is all about Jesus, in terms of who He was, why He came, and how we can become right with God through Him. Both gospels cannot be right given their many differences.

The Bible gives a stern warning to anyone who preaches a different gospel than the one Paul received by revelation from Jesus Christ. This is found in Galatians 1:6-9, which says, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–  ⁷ which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.  ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!  ⁹ As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”

• Racism – I have read that Joseph Smith and several prophets after him were racist, which in turn hindered the opportunities for blacks to hold the priesthood and reach the highest heaven. This racism appears to have continued for many years, and has been a stain on the Mormon church.

• Arrogance/pride – According to a source that cites the History of the Church, Volume 6, pg. 408-409, Joseph Smith is quoted as saying, “I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet…”. In contrast, Jesus, the ultimate prophet, exhibited humility.

• Premise for the founding of a new religion – For a person to start a new religion, they need to criticize and seek to correct an existing one, provide a dramatic event or encounter to get people’s attention and persuade them to switch, and provide new “scripture.” Joseph Smith did this, but he was not the only one.  Muhammed did this in the founding of Islam, Sun Myung Moon did this in the founding of his Unification Church, and Mary Baker Eddy did this to some extent in her founding of the Church of Christ, Scientist.  The question one must ask, then, is, “Who do you believe in?”  Joseph Smith started Mormonism on the premise that all of the existing churches were abominable, but that was not true, for it was at the end of the Great Awakening when “the church” was thriving.  Also, he founded Mormonism on the view that the Bible had become partially corrupted over time, but that was untrue also.  In short, there was no need for a new religion.

The Book of Mormon

In my document “An Evaluation of 1 and 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon,” I identify many concerns with the quality and credibility of the Book of Mormon, and this was only from reviewing a couple of books within it.  Christians only use the Bible, for we know it to be God’s word, it has proven to be reliable, and it says that it is sufficient to make a person both wise for salvation and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Bible

Although Mormons believe that today’s Bible is incomplete and cannot be fully trusted due to translation and copy errors over time, this is simply untrue.  The “lost books” of the Bible are not lost books at all, for they never were part of the Bible due to their fanatical stories.  I discussed this in my document, “An Evaluation of 1 and 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon.”  Also, if you search for credible articles on the reliability of the Bible, you will see that it is.  The relatively recent finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls proves the reliability of the Old Testament, especially the book of Isaiah. Overall, you will find that today’s Bible is 99% accurate, and thus reliable.  Anyone who claims that it is incomplete and inaccurate is going against an established truth, and is either ignorant of this or has ulterior motives.

God

Christians, Jews, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. all believe in one God; this is called monotheistic.  Mormons and Hindus believe in many gods; this is called polytheistic.  Whether a person believes in one and only one almighty God or many gods is the starting point of one’s religion; it is the foundation upon which the religion is built.  If we differ here, then many other differences can flow from it.  This key difference makes Christianity much different from Mormonism, and the implications are significant.

Over and over the Bible speaks of there being one, and only one, great and powerful God.  In short, the God of the Bible and that Christians believe in is much bigger than the God that Mormons believe in.  Consider the sampling of verses below.

•  Isaiah 40:21-28 ²¹ Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?  ²² He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.  ²³ He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.  ²⁴ No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.  ²⁵ “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.  ²⁶ Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.  ²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?  ²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
•  Isaiah 43:10 ¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
•  Isaiah 44:6-8 ⁶ “This is what the LORD says– Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.  ⁷ Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come– yes, let him foretell what will come.  ⁸ Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”
•  Isaiah 45:5-7 ⁵ I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,  ⁶ so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.  ⁷ I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
•  Isaiah 45:21-22 ²¹ Declare what is to be, present it– let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.  ²² “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
•  Isaiah 55:8-9 ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
•  Psalm 147:5 ⁵ Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

Please see the Appendix on other religions (Islam, Unification Church, Church of Christ Scientist) to see how each one compares to Mormonism in terms of: 1) communication of new revelation from an angel, 2) need to restore or correct false doctrine, 3) new doctrines that people should believe in and follow, and 4) a reduced status or position of Jesus.

Gift (book)

We do not know how you will feel after opening our gift to you.  You might be upset and offended.  You might change your view on how you think of us, and decide never to contact us again.  You might even throw the gift away.

However, it is our hope that you understand why we gave you this gift, which is out of our love for you, and our heartfelt desire that you at least begin to see what we see.  Please read through it when you can (likely after you return home).  While you may not agree with everything the author said, we believe you will relate to much of it. If, after reading through the book, you’d like to contact us for questions, we have provided our contact information below.