
## Overview

- Modern LDS believe they are Christians, and often consider Christians in denominations such as Pentecostal to be brothers and sisters. This was not the view of Joseph Smith.
- Just as Islam claims to be a continuation of the true faith found in the Bible, so does Mormonism. Like Islam though, the LDS church denies foundational Christian teachings and has little in common with actual Christianity, as you shall see.

## The View of Early Mormon Leaders

Joseph Smith did not consider any Christian denominations brothers in the faith. Rather, they were all called abominations. This view has been avoided by LDS recently.

> "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world."
>
> _Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 270_

Brigham Young echoed Smith's sentiment:

> "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God."
>
> _Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 8, p. 171_

## The Gospel

The doctrines of the LDS organisation are frequently laid out in a way that sounds exactly like what Christians would say. Nevertheless, if you look deeper, you will see that LDS teaching is massively different to that of mainstream Christianity.

Briefly, the LDS gospel is that Jesus is our eldest brother, and we all lived together as spirit children before life here. We all sinned, but we can ascend to “exultation” through a marriage in the temple and keeping promises made in the temple, etc. Those who are exalted will be made exactly like God and given our own planets to populate. Others who fall short or accept Jesus in “spirit prison” will be in a lesser paradise called the Terrestrial Kingdom.

Almost needless to say, but none of this is in the Bible, and all of it can be very clearly disproven outright with scripture. For example, we did not exist with God before the world, or there would be no person “yet to be created”:

> “This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.”
>
> _Psalms 102:18_

Neither will we have spouses after the resurrection, as Jesus showed when he was asked whose husband a woman who had remarried after being widowed she would be:

> “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.”
>
> _Matthew 22:30_

Paul warned that even if an angel from heaven or he, Paul, came preaching another gospel, we must not believe it. Therefore, do not believe LDS teachings.

> “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
>
> _Galatians 1:8_

## Jesus

This is denied or unknown by some Mormons, but according to LDS doctrine, God made us through having sex with his wives, and Jesus is merely one of these siblings of ours, rather than the creator of all—being one with the Father—who has reclaimed his place next to the Father.

John 1, Hebrews 1, and many other passages make it abundantly clear that Jesus is one with God and his son in a sense that humans and angels are not.

> “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
>
> _John 3:16_

## Becoming a God

Some Mormons have distanced themselves from this belief, and many are completely unaware of their own doctrines, but it cannot be disputed that officially, "God,” in Mormonism, is only one of many gods who was once a man. Therefore, Mormonism fails to answer the question of how the universe came to be (and who the ultimate creator is) and rejects Christianity.

> "To live in the highest part of the celestial kingdom is called exaltation or eternal life. To be able to live in this part of the celestial kingdom, people must have been married in the temple and must have kept the sacred promises they made in the temple. They will receive everything our Father in Heaven has and will become like Him. They will even be able to have spirit children and make new worlds for them to live on, and do all the things our Father in Heaven has done."
>
> _[Gospel Fundamentals](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/31129_eng.pdf#page=210)—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah_

The Bible makes it clear over and over that God _alone_ made everything—the Earth and the stars, and every living creature. There is no other God like him, he declares.

> “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.”
>
> _Isaiah 44:24_

> "Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou has made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee."
>
> _Nehemiah 9:6_

> _See [here](https://mit.irr.org/28-biblical-passages-which-explicitly-teach-there-only-one-god#:~:text=1.,beneath%3A%20there%20is%20none%20else.) for more._

## Resources

- _An LDS resource explaining many of their doctrines:_ [Gospel Fundamentals](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/31129_eng.pdf#page=210)—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah.
- [28 Biblical Passages Which Explicitly Teach There is Only One God](https://mit.irr.org/28-biblical-passages-which-explicitly-teach-there-only-one-god#:~:text=1.,beneath%3A%20there%20is%20none%20else.)—Institute for Religious Research.
- [God in Mormonism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Mormonism#Plurality_of_gods)—Wikipedia.
- Godhood in the [Encyclopedia of Mormonism](https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/EoM/id/3734)—Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.


Are Mormons Christian?

The book of Abraham is part of the Pearl of Great Price. It is full of significant Mormon doctrines. The short story is that Joseph Smith claimed that God gave him the translations of Egyptian texts, and that they told of Abraham, the pre-mortal existence of man, etc. However, it is now clear even to some Mormon apologists that Joseph Smith made up his translations from Egyptian while knowing nothing. What he was reading was actually the Book of the Dead and other funerary texts.

Even the LDS church admits, amid a myriad of excuses, that the translation of the surviving fragments of the Egyptian papyrus Joseph Smith used seems wrong:

> “None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham’s name or any of the events recorded in the book of Abraham. Latter-day Saint and non-Latter-day Saint Egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of Abraham\[...] Scholars have identified the papyrus fragments as parts of standard funerary texts that were deposited with mummified bodies.”
>
> *[Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/translation-and-historicity-of-the-book-of-abraham?lang=eng) by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints*

The defences offerred by the LDS church include the idea that his “translation” was actually just a work inspired by what he saw, with the help of God; that the Egyptian language completely changed and used to mean what Joseph Smith translated; and that the portions of the original Egyptian he used and made notes about might not be representative of the text actually used for the Book of Abraham.

None of this is widely known among Mormon believers. I met two elders myself who had no idea that this controversy existed, let alone the clear conclusion that Joseph Smith was a fraud in regard to one of his most significant texts.

## Recommended

### 🎞️ Video

[The Book of Abraham Controversy | Translation or Fraud?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-ns6OaS5fc) by Ex Brother Bryce

### 📜 Article

[Book of Abraham exposed “fraud”](https://ldsfacts.org/mormon-church-history/book-of-abraham-exposed/) by 
LDS Facts


The Book of Abraham


## Prophethood

According to the Law of Moses in the Bible, God demands that if a prophet makes a false prediction, he is to be put to death, as he has made the thing up, rather than speaking for God. We are also told not to fear a prophet who has made a false prediction. We are not done yet though, as we are also warned of false prophets in the New Testament repeatedly. Jesus said of them, "You will know them by their fruit."

Now if Joseph Smith made a false prediction, that would mean that he is certainly not to be feared. He spoke presumptuously. I challenge you to watch the video below, look into its claims, and still assert that Joseph Smith was a true prophet.

See also [Failed Prophecies of Joseph Smith](https://mit.irr.org/failed-prophecies-of-joseph-smith), by Institute for Religious Research (article).

## His Character

Was Joseph Smith a good man? It is not enough to do a few good things—so did Judas Iscariot, who was a thief and became a traitor. If Joseph Smith persisted in major sins, it should be a major concern for his followers.

This will be hard to accept for a believer in Joseph Smith, but you must follow the truth, not your feelings, for the heart is deceitful: Joseph Smith was an adulterer of massive proportions, deceitful, and he presented a new gospel, among other things. All of this information, you can easily track down.

To take one example, he took the wives of other men for himself, which is to commit adultery according to Jesus:

> “But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
>
> _Matthew 5:32_

Latter Day Saints do not deny that he took other mens’ wives. He married 11 or more women who were already married, and they did not leave their husbands!—as [this](https://ldsanswers.org/how-could-joseph-smiths-polyandrous-marriages-be-explained/) Fair Latter Day Saints article states.

- More proof of his adultery: [article](https://ldsfacts.org/joseph-smith/joseph-smith-documented-liar/)
- Proof he was a consistent liar: [article](https://christinprophecy.org/articles/irrefutable-proof-that-joseph-smith-was-a-fraud-why-mormonism-is-not-christian/)
- A case of blatant fraud: [The Book of Abraham](#the-book-of-abraham)

## Additions to the Bible

Joseph Smith added twelve verses to the end of Genesis which no non-Mormon translator will vouch for, besides making other changes to the Bible. And the new ending of Genesis just so happens to be the only so-called reference to Joseph Smith in the Bible. Below is a thorough investigation of the matter.

<https://www.youtube.com/embed/eHkEeTRrmWo?si=wKufJcS5vM8Ydh81>

Dare we say that those who would add their own words to the Word of God and claim it to be from God are prophets? No indeed.


Joseph Smith's Truthworthiness


## Belief In Jesus Christ

Belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is indeed very reasonable,
and we also have great evidence that the writings of his disciples
have been accurately kept, including the four gospels that detail
Jesus’s life. For more, see the [Christianity](/beliefs/christianity) page.

## Was Joseph Smith an Apostle?

Was Joseph Smith a true messenger of Jesus? There are some accounts of miraculous healings by Joseph Smith, and perhaps they are genuine, but this alone is not enough.

We are warned in the New Testament of signs from the devil himself and from false prophets. We are also told not to fear a prophet whose prophecies do not come to pass, and in the Law of Moses, the penalty for such a prophet was death. It was also said that we will know the false prophets by their fruits and teachings.

Proving himself false, Joseph Smith made prophecies which failed, pretended to translate some ancient Egyptian, and committed adultery unrepentantly.

[More…](#joseph-smiths-truthworthiness)

## The Universe

The universes in Mormonism is different to that in Christianity: its origins are unspecified. There is no supreme God, so we must ask how the universe began, but there is no answer. Read [Is the Universe Eternal?](/articles/is-the-universe-eternal) to find out why there must have been a beginning.

## Spiritual Experiences

It is common practice to encourage young Mormons to seek after a spiritual experience. They are told that when they feel something special, that is the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible says that the heart is deceitful, and while the Holy Spirit can prompt us by changing our hearts, we ought to be careful when our feelings seem contrary to reason. Or should we make enormous decisions based only on our feelings without also using our minds, if in fact there is helpful information to be had?


Why Should We Be Mormons?


Mormonism, began by Joseph Smith, is the belief that the words of God had been lost for a long time, but Joseph Smith was given revelations and tablets to instruct the people. Some Mormons prefer the term Latter Day Saints now. There are many rules and a community focus in Mormonism. Mormons today often simply identify themselves as Christians, but traditional Mormons believe that Christians have a distorted and false view of God, salvation, and the afterlife.
