It is safe to say that there are many problems with the “Christians” in this world.  There are many views on this subject and for the longest time I just told myself that as long as they are Christian than they are ok with me, but there are some problems there.  There are many Christian denominations now and ultimately I understand this, because there is so much to Christianity that people will have different views on some things.  So what really matters?  Well, salvation is really all that matters, except for the fact that some denominations are getting so “religious” that they are drifting away from Jesus’ teaching.  This leads to many problems, especially since I know many people personally that are not Christians because they grew up in an extremely “religious” Christian denominational church.  I will not point out specific denominations, but I am against forcing people to do religious things to the extent that they drift away from God.  God is in no way boring and when churches make him boring something is wrong.

I have many thoughts on this subject.  I try to live my life by the Bible, without finding loopholes.  If the Bible tells me something is wrong, I look in to it and if I conclude that it is Biblically wrong, then I try to stop doing it.  I want to try my best to live by God’s standards not my own and not society’s.  That being said, I don’t spend my time doing religious things, because it wastes valuable time that I could be spending writing about things that help other people spiritually or I could be witnessing to people instead.  Donald Miller has a great quote about this.

“I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil, but rather have us wasting time.  This is why the devil trys so hard to get Christians to be religious.  If he can sink a man’s mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging in God.”

Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz)

I don’t waste my time being “religious”, but I do follow the Bible.  I study the Bible frequently and I love reading it.  I try my best to live by the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law, but I think many people have got themselves into the other ditch too.  It is true that we should live by the spirit according to Jesus, but what does that really mean?  It is just as bad in God’s eyes to murder now that we are under the spirit as it was when we lived by the law?  Living by the spirit is simply referring to the condition of your heart.  In other words, you shouldn’t not kill somebody because God’s law told you not to, you shouldn’t kill people because you spiritually don’t want to.

Living under the spirit is no reason to omit the Bible.  If you truly live by the spirit, you would want to please God by obeying His Word.  So when somebody shows you a verse in the Bible that contradicts what you do, you can’t use living under the spirit as an excuse to keep doing it.  If you truly believe something is ok, it may be, but listen to your heart and God’s Spirit about it, don’t block them out.

Back to the “religious” crowd.  I am not attacking, I am just worried.  It worries me because it seems like one of the biggest reasons for people to leave Christianity is because they grew up under strict rules and no fun, as opposed to growing up knowing the love of God and having fun.  The love of God is an amazing thing and if more people could experience it, I think more people would be open to Christianity.  Obviously most people are open to Christianity since well over 90% of this country is Christian, but how many of those people know what they could be experiencing with the true love of God and His Spirit?  We are always going to have a war on God going on outside of Christianity, but why are we having such a civil war?

There is so many ditches that Christians can fall into when it comes to their faith and their lifestyle.  Anything from the religious crowd to the crowd that trys to become so spiritual that they create their own religion.  Another problem that people seem to have with the “Modern Christian” title becoming more popular is an ego issue.  Even since I have been a Christian, I have had people talk down to me as if they are a better Christian than I am.  This really seems to come heavily from the Bible college crowd.  I am not against Christian colleges, in fact I hope to be going to one in the Fall, but it seems like many of the Bible college kids get an enormous ego once they begin to learn about the Bible and then they feel like they know more than everyone about the subject.

Statistically the Christian college crowd seem to be the worst about feeling superior to other Christians.  They are almost all great people,  but somehow many have an egotistical mindset.  Many people don’t realize that when they condemn other people for being consumed with sin, they are often being consumed with sin from an alternative perspective.  When somebody is consumed with pornography, they obviously have an addiction to a sin (lust).  Alternatively, when somebody is consumed with their ego and constantly condemn people for things like this, they have an addiction to a different sin (pride).  These are exactly the same in God’s eyes.  If somebody needs help breaking an addiction, we should help them to our best ability and we should let them know what the Bible says about it, but making them feel terrible and judging them will not help in any way.

This entire blog may seem like I am judging and pointing fingers, but really I just want people to think about what they are doing.  I know I am not perfect and I have just as many flaws as anyone, but I just want to put that thought in peoples mind.  I don’t mean to judge, I just want people to think about what they are doing.

This is the 4th blog in the series “False or Faith-Worthy?“.

One very important question to ask ourselves in any religion is: who do we follow?  Are we following somebody that really makes sense or did we not really stop and think about who we are really following.  When I say this, I am not referring to a God necessarily.  Many religions claim to follow God, but they are actually following the founder of the religion, because if it wasn’t for the founder, they would not have that religion.  Many popular religions are based on Christianity, but the founder didn’t like some things about Christianity and they have different beliefs from Christians.

Who Do I Follow?

I can honestly say that I believe in God and I follow Jesus.  I follow Jesus because I believe He is the Son of God and I believe that everything he said is true.  Why do I follow Jesus?  First off, just to begin I would have to say that Jesus has more supernatural miracles than any other religious figure, because I can’t think of another religious figure that performed any supernatural miracles.  Jesus lived a sinless life, unlike any other person to ever live.  Jesus did claim to be the Son of God.  This always amazes me when I hear other religions say things like:  Jesus was not the Son of God, but he was a great prophet.  Does that really make sense to say:  I know he claimed to be God and all, but he was just confused or lying, he is just a great prophet.  I think it has to be one way or them other.  He either is the Son of God as he claimed or He is just a crazy or a liar, because he claimed to be the Son of God.  You can’t claim to be the Son of God without either being crazy, a liar or truly being the Son of God.  So if they believe He was just a prophet, they also have to think He was either a liar or a mental patient, thus not really making Him prophet material.

Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church

Mormons believe that without Joseph Smith, we would not have salvation.  What made Joseph Smith so special?  He is one guy that claimed to have spoken to God, as many people have.  He claimed to have visions from who he thought was God, as many people have.  He performed no miracles and if you ask a Mormon about Joseph Smith, they really don’t know as much as you would think they would know about him, being the founder of their religion.  They tend to say that he was a good person and he lived the best life he could.  That’s arguable, but even if he did, I know many people like that.  He was heavily involved with the occult and spiritism.  He was arrested for counterfeiting money, stealing horses, burning down a printing press and many other crimes.  Finally, he died in a gun fight, shooting 2 men before he was gunned down.  There is absolutely no reason to believe anything that Joseph Smith ever said pertaining to the spirit world.  Joseph Smith died being proven a false prophet and Mormons today still follow his teaching.  View my blog on Mormonism.

Charles T. Russell and the Watchtower Organization

Jehovah’s Witnesses basically all agree with Charles T. Russell and his opinions on theology.  They would have to, to be Jehovah’s Witnesses; otherwise, they would most likely just be Christians.  Russell grew up in a Christian church, but he personally believed that some of the Christian doctrines were wrong.  Because of this one man’s belief to change these things, there are now millions of people in the Watchtower Society.  Who are they following?  They claim to follow Jesus, but they really follow one person’s distorted view of Jesus Christ.  Russell never performed miracles in any way and in fact he and the other Watchtower leaders prophesied a few things, including the end of the world, and they never came true.  Russell  and a few other leaders of the Watchtower Society all died being proven to be false prophets and though millions have left the Watchtower, many are still there.  View my blog on Jehovah’s Witnesses.

L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology

Somewhere between 50,000-100,000 people follow Hubbard and for what reason?  He preached against drugs and he was on drugs when he died.  His son reported Hubbard using drugs through his whole life.  Hubbard was quoted saying that religion is where the money is and on top of everything, he was a Science Fiction author.  Why does it matter that he was a Science Fiction author?  Because Scientologists believe aliens live inside us all and all of the aliens were put on this planet millions of years ago by the great overlord Xenu from another planet.  There is no basis for any of Hubbards’s teaching outside of his creative mind and people follow him and believe him.  I will admit that many early Scientologists don’t know anything about the crazy alien stuff, but by the time they get to that level they have spent so much money that many stay in.  I may write a blog about Scientology, but I am a little scared, because anybody who speaks out against Scientology seems to get attacked by the Church of Scientology.  Including people who have had their offices broken in to and been physically assaulted.

Who Do We Follow?

That is just to name a few of the more popular groups of followers.  I know Scientology is one of the world’s smallest religious movements, but the media makes it seem much bigger.  They all follow false prophets.  It’s funny that they almost all agree that Jesus was a great person.  They say Jesus was a great person and then they say He is not our Savior.  He is not our Savior?  He performed outstanding miracles, he is mentioned as an amazing person in books other than the Bible, we base our entire dating system on Jesus (this is the year 2009…2009 years since what?  Jesus) and most of all, He claimed to be the Son of God and he fulfilled 100s of prophecies.  Explain why you wouldn’t automatically assume He was our Savior and then go from there?  There is only 2 options here.  You can either assume He is who He says He is or you must assume that He was crazy or a liar.  It makes no sense for somebody to accept Him as a good person or a prophet, but not the Son of God.  If people do not believe He is the Son of God then they have to assume He was either crazy or a liar.

Another question arises for non-believers.  Do we have to follow anybody?  You don’t have to follow anybody if you think you are as good as it gets and there is no higher force.  Personally, I don’t want to be as high as the totem pole goes.  If you think there may be a higher force or power then you should probably figure out who the most reasonable figure would be to follow.  I have never been an Atheist, so I can’t understand how people could think there is no God.  I have been an Agnostic, but it really didn’t make sense for me to not follow Jesus after I realized that there are no flaws in His teaching and living.  I believe that the main reason people don’t follow Jesus and His teaching is because they don’t want to change the way they live.  This is just my opinion, like the rest of this post, but it makes perfect sense to me.  So, who do we follow?  Who do you follow?  Thanks for reading.

This is the 3rd blog in the series “False or Faith-Worthy?“.

Why do I write about different world religions?  Religion and Spiritualism has always interested me.  As I have mentioned in some of my blogs before, I did not grow up in church, so everything I know is first hand personal experience.  I decided to look into different religions for myself and find what is right.  I am a Christian because Christianity has never been proven wrong and there is a tremendous amount of evidence to base my faith on.  Really, I am just in the search for truth and I like writing about it.  Let this study begin.

Moving along in our study on world religions, we move to Jehovah’s Witnesses, also known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.  Again, I want to point out that I am not out to attack or tear down any individual here.  My arguments and conflicts are with The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.  Please understand that my arguments have mainly factual evidence as backing.

When we think about Jehovah’s Witness, we think about people knocking on our doors.  Perhaps the Jehovah’s Witnesses are most famous for their door-to-door recruiting and it makes sense that they are known for this since recent statistics have shown them spending 835 million hours of door-to-door witnessing in one year.  They actually have America mapped out so that they can reach every home at least once or twice per year.  So, what do these people teach?  Most people tend to either hide when they hear the knock at their door or simply send them away.  Now, as a Christian, you will be informed.  You can now use their mission field as your own mission field at your front door.  For Jehovah’s Witnesses, I ask that you please continue reading.  If you are discouraged from reading anti-Watchtower literature, please ask yourself “why?”.  Are they hiding something?  If you don’t think they are, then you have no reason to fully disconnect as soon as anti-Watchtower literature is brought up.  Please read forth and keep an open mind.  Of course for people of no religion or other religions, this blog should answer many questions.

The Start of the Watchtower Society

The society began by a man named Charles T. Russell.  Russell grew up as a Protestant Christian, but he said there were some things that he didn’t like about Christianity.  These were some of the things he disagreed with:

• The teaching of hell (hell and eternal judgment)
• The Trinity (he claimed it was not rational and he could not understand it)

Since Russell so strongly disagreed with these things, he decided to develop his own theology and began publishing Studies in Scripture and he later began publishing the Watchtower Magazine.  He later incorporated the organization in 1884 as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and in 1909 he moved the headquarters to Brooklyn, New York, where it is currently located.

Russell’s Predictions of Christ’s Return

Early is Russell’s ministry he calculated when Christ was going to return physically to the Earth.  For many years he prophesied that Christ would return in 1874. As we know, Christ did not return in 1874, so he changed his calculations to 1914.  After Christ did not show up in 1914, Russell redefined the coming of Jesus from a physical coming to a spiritual coming.  He said that Christ returned invisibly as a spirit to help him set up his organization.  Russell died a few years later in 1916.

Rutherford Takes Over the Alleged Theocratic Kingdom

In 1917 the Watchtower organization was taken over by Joseph Franklin Rutherford.  The organization grew tremendously under Rutherford’s leadership.  Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that the Watchtower Society in Brooklyn, New York is the theocratic kingdom of God on Earth.  A theocratic kingdom is a government ruled by God.  They believe that all government outside of the Watchtower society is satanic.  Because of this, Jehovah’s Witness will not salute the flag, they will never recite the Pledge of Allegiance and they will not serve in the armed forces of any nation.  This is one of the ways that their practices differ heavily from Christianity.  Another difference in Jehovah’s Witnesses is that they do not celebrate Christmas, because they deny they incarnation of Jesus Christ and  they do not celebrate Easter, because they deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The name was actually changed to “Jehovah’s Witnesses” under Rutherford’s leadership.  He said they would do this to vindicate the true name of Jehovah, because he claimed that Jesus Christ is not God, the Holy Spirit is not God but Jehovah is God alone.  The term Jehovah is just an Old Testament translation for the word God.  The ancient Jews did not use vowels in their writing and the term God was translated as YHWH.  It was basically translated from that as Jehovah, so there is no problem with the actual term Jehovah.

Rutherford also had many famous prophesies, one prophecy that included Abraham, Isaac and Jacob returning visibly to the Earth to help promote the kingdom of God.  He believed they would return between 1925 and 1929.  He actually believed this so much that he built a mansion in San Diego, California for the 3 of them to live in, but when they did not return by 1929, he moved into the mansion himself.  Rutherford later died in 1942.

Continuing under Knorr’s Leadership

Nathan H. Knorr took over the Watchtower Organization in 1942.  Under his leadership the organization developed it’s high outreach all over the world with many missionaries.  Also under Knorr’s leadership, they decided to make their own translation of the Bible, calling it The New World Translation.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that 4 Greek scholars did The New World Translation.  The organization does not make known the translators of their bible, but it has been released from former Jehovah’s Witnesses.  The translators were Nathan H. Knorr (President of the organization), Frederick W. Franz (Vice-President), George D. Gangas, and Albert D. Schroeder.  Of these men, not all of them had graduated high school and none of them had the actual credentials to be considered a Greek scholar.  There are very obvious errors in their translation that are altered to line-up with their specific beliefs and theology that they have created.

Knorr decided to create his first prophecy in the year 1975.  He said that in 1975 Armageddon would occur and it would be the end of the age.  As we know, 1975 came and went and we are all still here, because Armageddon did not occur.  Since we have heard all of these prophecies that did not come true from the Watchtower organization, let’s see what the Bible actually says about this.

²⁰ But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.”

²¹ You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD ?” ²² If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 18 : 20-22

Apparently many of the Jehovah’s Witnesses at the time understood what that verse meant, because in 1976 and 1977 over 1,000,000 Witnesses left the organization.  Nathan H. Knorr died in 1977

Continuing Leaders

Frederick Franz took over the organization after being the leading theologian for over 60 years.  The Watchtower organization continued after the death of Franz, under the leadership of  Milton G. Henschel.  Henschel stepped down from presidency in 2001.  Now the current president is M.H. Larson.

Talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses

It is easy to just pretend like you are not home when Jehovah’s Witnesses knock at your door, but why not witness to the Witness at your door?  Here are some important things to know about witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses.  The next few parts are heavily inspired by Ron Carlson’s teaching on the subject.

Five Facts to Remember when Witnessing to a Witness

1. They have accepted the organization as the prophet of God.
2. They have accepted the organization as God’s sole channel for His truth.
3. They believe that to reject the organization is to reject God.
4. They believe that only the organization can interpret the Bible; as individuals, they are unable to do so.
5. They believe that the Watchtower magazine contains God’s truth, directed by Him, through the organization.

Conflict with Christianity

This is what the organization and their magazine teach that conflicts with orthodox Christianity.

1. That Jesus is a created being – a creature.
2. That Jesus is actually Michael the Archangel.
3. The Jesus was not resurrected bodily, but as a spirit being.
4. That Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 (secretly to their organization).
5. That Jesus was only a man when on earth, not “the Word become flesh”.
6. That the Holy Spirit is only an active force, not the Person of God.
7. That hell is simply the grave.
8. That heaven’s doors are only open to 144,000 people.
9. That the majority of Witnesses must remain on earth.
10. That salvation is found only though their organization.
11. That salvation can be obtained only through good works until the end, then they will live on earth in a paradise.
12. That Satan is the author of the doctrine of the trinity.
13. That Jesus cannot be given worship, only honor as Jehovah’s first creation.

What the Jehovah’s Witnesses deny

• The trinity
• The deity of Christ
• The bodily resurrection of Christ
• The visible return of Christ
• The Person of God the Holy Spirit
• The promise of heaven to all believers
• The necessity of a new birth for all believers
• Communion for all believers (not only 144,000)
• The eternal security of the believer
• The conscious eternal punishment of the lost

The Truth from the Bible

For lack of space, I am only going to put the Bible verse reference, I am not actually going to type the entire verses.  You can look up the verses online at BibleGateway.com.  God exists in a Trinity of 3 eternal and co-equal persons.  Meaning within the nature of  the one God, there are 3 eternal Persons:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

• Father: Romans 1:17
• Son: John 20:28
• Holy Spirit: Acts 5:3-4

Jesus is no less than God in human flesh.  (Colossians 2:9)

God, the Holy Spirit, is the 3rd member of the Holy Trinity.  (Matthew 28:19, Acts 13:2)

Jesus Christ rose bodily from the grave. (John 2:20-21, Luke 24:39)

Jesus is visibly coming again to setup His kingdom on earth. (Matthew 24:30, Acts 1:8, Revelation 1:7)

Salvation is in the Person of Jesus Christ and comes through faith in Him.  (Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8-9)

It is the work of God for man, not a work of man for God. (Titus 3:4-6)

Jesus was and should be worshiped. (John 20:26-28, Matthew 2:10-12, Matthew 14:33)

When You Talk to Jehovah’s Witnesses

When you talk to Jehovah’s Witnesses today, they really don’t have much hope.  Their entire plan is to be saved through good works and hopefully make it to a paradise on earth.  They only believe that the first 144,000 Witnesses make it to heaven and many of them are either dead or too old to be going door to door.  So, the people you will probably talk to, mostly think they are only going to a paradise on earth, not heaven.

Why They Believe Only 144,000  Make it to Heaven

Joseph Franklin Rutherford, their 2nd president, believed the end of the world was very near, so he began to tell his followers that only 144,000 members would make it to heaven, to increase membership.  They believed for a long time that only these people could be saved.  They ran into a problem in 1935 when their membership increased to over 144,000.  Rutherford quickly pulled down another revelation from God and began teaching that the people that got in after the 144,000 would stay here on earth in a paradise when they died.  This is why most Witnesses have no hope of ever going to heaven when you talk to them today.

Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Trinity

Ok, so what is the main thing that truly separates Jehovah’s Witnesses from Christians?  What is the main part of their doctrine that differs from what Christ taught and what the Bible teaches?  It is the trinity.  They will tell you that you do not find the word trinity in the Holy Bible.  That may be true.  The word trinity is a Latin term meaning “3 in the unity of one”.  This is simply a term we use to describe what God has revealed to us.  So the question is not whether or not the word trinity is actually used, but whether or not the Bible teaches the Trinity.  Let’s answer some questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses and look at whether or not the Bible teaches the doctrine of the Trinity.

The following verses from the Bible explain the Trinity easily and make it very hard for Jehovah’s Witnesses to deny it.  These verses are actually translated the same even in the Jehovah’s Witnesses own Bible, which makes them very easy to use when talking to a Witness.  We will show these verses out of their favorite book, Revelation.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:8

Who is speaking here?  The Lord is speaking and Jehovah’s Witnesses agree that Jehovah God is speaking here.  They will agree that the Alpha and the Omega is the Lord God.  Their version of the Bible also capitalizes Alpha and Omega so that you know who it is.  The next verse…

^“He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Revelation 21:5-7

Once again we see that the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End is the Lord/Jehovah God.  It is capitalized in their Bible and they agree with it.  Another verse…

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Revelation 22:13

Again they agree that these verses refer to the Lord/Jehovah God.  Next verse…

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.”

Revelation 1:17

Who is the First and the Last here?  They will agree that it is Jehovah God.  Once again, it is capitalized in their Bible.  Well let’s read the verse directly after that verse.

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Revelation 1:18

This verse is the same in their Bible.  The Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Living One…who is this?  In any translation you can see that this is referring to Jehovah God.  So a great question arises for Jehovah’s Witnesses.  When did Jehovah God die?  They do not have an answer for this question.  Who died?  The answer is that Jesus died and it says the Lord God died.  This is because Jesus and the Lord God, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Living One, Jehovah God are one in the same.  Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have an answer for this.  You can even use their Bible to show these verses to them and they still do not have an answer.

What Does This All Mean?

Jehovah’s Witnesses deny many essentials of the Christianity…but why?  Because they all follow the original beliefs of one man who was proven to be a false prophet, who never accomplished any great miracles and who lived a sinful life.  This all comes down to who are we following?  This is an important question.  Do we follow sinless, amazing, faith-worthy Jesus or do we follow a false prophet?  Read more about this in the next blog.  For more great information on Jehovah’s Witnesses visit CARM on Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Kent Hovind is the Creationist in this video and he takes on 3 Evolutionists.  The Evolutionists don’t really appear to be very informed, but they are professors, so this debate is very interesting.

Check out Kent Hovind’s website: drdino.com

This is the 2nd blog in the series “False or Faith-Worthy?“.

Why do I write about different world religions?  Religion and Spiritualism has always interested me.  As I have mentioned in some of my blogs before, I did not grow up in church, so everything I know is first hand personal experience.  I decided to look into different religions for myself and find what is right.  I am a Christian because Christianity has never been proven wrong and there is a tremendous amount of evidence to base my faith on.  Really, I am just in the search for truth and I like writing about it.  Let this study begin.

We begin our study on world religions with one of the biggest religions next to Christianity.  This blog will be on Mormonism otherwise known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Many of the blogs I write are heavily based on my personal beliefs and opinions, but for the subject of world religions, I will stick to a large portion of factual information. Like I always say, I don’t want to tell you what to believe, I just want you to be informed with the facts and evidence.  This is not an attack on Mormonism; even the majority of the opinions are based on factual evidence.  I care for Mormons and I want you to know the truth to make you own decisions.

For Mormons, this blog is some of the introductory information into the reality of Mormonism. All I ask of Mormons reading this is for you to be open minded. I understand that this may be the only religion you have ever known and because of that it may be a scary thought to read something that opposes Mormonism. I strongly urge Mormons to read this blog and study the facts for yourself. If you don’t agree with something, please look it up for yourself before omitting it completely and if you see information that is incorrect, I will change it if you can provide a legitimate documentation of correction.

For Christians, knowing about a person’s religion is a great way to witness to them. The facts you will see in this blog will help you to understand Mormonism. After reading this blog, you should be fueled as a Christian with all of the information you need to talk to Mormon friends, acquaintances and the Mormon missionaries that knock at you door. Mormons knocking at your front door is a mission field at your door.

For other people of other religions or no religion, this will be a lot of information on Mormonism. If you have ever considered it or thought about it, many of your questions will be answered.

The Beginning of Mormonism

Mormonism began in 1820 when an alleged messenger of light came to Joseph Smith Jr. and began to speak to him.  For some brief background on Joseph Smith Jr, (we find this in the book Early Mormonism and the Magic World View by D. Michael Quinn in which the history department at B.Y.U. documents this), Joseph Smith Jr. was heavily involved, with his father, in spiritism, magic and the occult, long before he began to receive visitations from the spirit world.  I tell you this to give you a brief background of who he was before he started Mormonism.

After a life of being involved in these things, Joseph Smith Jr. says that at the age of 14 he decided to go into the woods and pray for the first time in his life and inquire of God which of all the Christian churches were right and which one should he join.  This is what took place according to Joseph Smith Jr., in his own words (this is from his own testimony found in one of the standard works of the Mormon church, The Pearl of Great Price, in the book Joseph Smith ‘chapter 2′).  The testimony of Joseph Smith Jr.:

“I knelled down and began to offer up the desire of my heart up to God.  I had scarcely done so when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak.  Thick darkness gathered around me and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction, but exerting all of my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy, which had seized upon me.  At that very moment, when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction.  At that moment, some power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous powers I had never before felt in any other being.  Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head about the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it feel upon me.  It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which had held me bound.  When the light rested upon me, I saw 2 personages, whose brightness and glory defy all descriptions standing above me in the air.  One of them spake unto me calling me by name and said, pointing to the other, this is my beloved son, hear him.  Now my object in going to inquire of The Lord was to know which of all the Christian churches or sects was right, that I might know which to join.  No sooner therefore did I get possession of myself so as to be able to speak.  Then I asked the personages who stood above me in the light: Which of all the Christian Churches was right and which one should I join?  I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds and teachings were an abomination in his sight and that all their teachers were corrupt.

This is how Mormonism began in the year 1820.  With a messenger of light telling Joseph Smith Jr. that all of the Christian churches were wrong and all of their teachings were an abomination.  What would this include?

• The deity of Jesus Christ
• The Trinity
• The blood atonement
• Salvation by faith in Jesus Christ

To name a few.  This arises a great question for Christians.  Who was that personage of light?  First lets move on with more information on Mormonism.  Here are some quick statistics:

• Mormonism is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah
• The Mormon church claims a membership of about 11 million worldwide.
• Less than half of those are active members. (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• They are at zero growth in The United States.
• Most of their growth rate has taken place in The Philippines and South America.
• The Mormon church has taken in over 6 billion dollars in one year.
• They are one of the largest corporations west of the Mississippi river
• They hold political and economical power controlling Utah and Idaho politically.

Mormons claim to be neither Catholic nor Protestant.  They claim to be the true church of Jesus Christ.  Mormons believe that everyone else is wrong and that they alone speak for God.  First off, the Mormons have 4 main books that they call the standard works of the Mormon church.  These books are The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price and The Holy Bible (in so far as it is translated correctly).  When Mormons say they believe The Bible in so far as it is translated correctly, they say that where Mormonism disagrees with The Bible, The Bible is incorrectly translated.  As far as this is concerned, I would strongly urge any Mormon to look up the original languages for some parts of The Bible that allegedly are translated incorrectly.  I know for a fact that all of the verses I have seen where Mormons say The Bible is incorrectly translated are correctly translated.  Study this for yourself.

The Origin of The Book of Mormon

What is wrong with The Book of Mormon?  Once again, I am not trying to tear down any individual.  This is just to put the facts out there and to point out a few key aspects of Mormonism.  Mormons claim that the book of Mormon is a real history of the Western Hemisphere (North and South America).  They claim that The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ (this phrase was added in 1983).  They claim that this book was given to Joseph Smith Jr. by the angel Moroni.  The say that this angel appeared to Joseph and said that near his home in New York there were some gold plates buried.  Joesph Smith says that as a teenager, he dug up these alleged gold plates.  He describes the size of these gold plates and based upon the weight of gold they easily would have weighed over 275 pounds.  He claims, as a teenager, he put the plates under his arm and walked home 3 miles.  He says that these golden plates had Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics written on them. How did he translate from this language?  Joseph Smith Jr. claims that he put magic seer stones into a top hat, he then put his face into the top hat, he looked through the magic stones and he was able to translate the supposed Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics into The Book of Mormon.  The biggest issue with this is that the language of Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics does not exist.  Another issue is that in The Book of Mormon, there are over 25,000 words plagiarized word for word out of the King James Bible (including entire chapters plagiarized word for word).  The main thing that makes this so interesting is that Joseph Smith translated The Book of Mormon from Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics into perfect King James English in the 19 century.  The Book of Mormon was supposedly written down by an American Indian 1000 years before King James English ever came into existence.

Basic Mormon Doctrines

Mormons believe that we were all physically created by father and mother gods.  They believe that God the Father is a finite man of flesh and bone, who is married in heaven to multiple wives (Mormons actually practice polygamy here on Earth too, which is the practice of having multiple wives).  They believe that God the Father continues to have physical relations to his goddess wives to have spirit babies in heaven that then wait for bodies to possess on Earth so that they can begin their progression to godhood themselves.  Yes, Mormons do believe that every man is striving to become a god themselves.  This is why Mormons practice polygamy on Earth, to mass produces bodies for the spirit babies to possess.  Here are some facts on Mormon polygamists:

• Joseph Smith Jr. had 43 wives
• Brigham Young (2nd Mormon president) had 57 wives & 186 children

The Book of Mormon’s Accuracy or Inaccuracy

Mormons do not believe the Book of Mormon theologically, because it refutes most of Mormonism.  So, what is The Book of Mormon about?  It is the story that Joesph Smith Jr. wrote about the American Indians on the Western Hemisphere.  He claims that the American Indians are the lost tribes of Israel and that they are all Jews.  The entire basis for the truth of Mormonism is this story that Joseph Smith Jr. tells in The Book of Mormon.  He claims it is a true history of North and South America.  Recently Mormon Scholars, Anthropologists and Biochemists (wanting to finally prove The Book of Mormon) have taken over 5000 DNA samples from 140 different Indian tribes from all over North and South America to attempt to prove that they are Jews.  What they discovered is that the American Indians are not Jews.  They are all descendants from Asians from Mongolia and Siberia.  They are not related to the Jews at all.  This has completely collapsed all truth claim of Mormonism by the DNA evidence.  This entirely disproves The Book of Mormon, making Mormonism a lie.  Mormons claim that The Book of Mormon is a real history of North and South America, but Mormons and Mormon Scholars have never been able to produce a map of anything found in The Book of Mormon.  Even The Mormon Church refuses to produce a map of anything found in The Book of Mormon, because it is historical, archeological and geographical fraud.  This is very different from Christianity.  Not only can you still visit the places in The Bible, but archeologists now use The Holy Bible to find ancient cities and they actually find them.  The Holy Bible has been proven to be historically, archeologically and geographically accurate time and time again and never been proven inaccurate.  All I am saying is that the inspired Word of God should be accurate.  How could it be inspired by God if it can be proven wrong and inaccurate?

The Mormon Temples & Free Masonry

What are the Mormon temples for?  They are not for worshiping or teaching.  They use the temples for their ordinances.  These are secret rituals that Joseph Smith Jr. stole word for word from Free Masonry and The Masonic Lodge.  Joseph Smith Jr. was a Master Mason.  What are some of the secret rituals he took?

• Secret handshakes
• Secret passwords
• Through the Veil
• 5 Points of Fellowship

All of these secret rituals were stolen word for word from Free Masonry.  They do not encourage Mormons to be Masons, because they don’t want them to find out where they got their rituals from.  Other than Mason rituals, they also practice baptizing for dead relatives, believing that they can be the savior for dead people.  Those are some of the rituals that take place in Mormon temples.

Mormons on the Return of Christ

Mormons do teach and believe that Jesus Christ will return.  They believe He will return to Independence, Missouri and that Independence will become the new Jerusalem.

The God of Christianity and The Mormon God

Mormons claim that Christianity and Mormonism are one in the same.  In their book Mormon Doctrines, it states that you cannot distinguish Mormonism from Christianity in the slightest detail.  So, what is the Mormon doctrine of God?  This is what Mormons teach about God:

1. God the Father has a body of flesh and bone
2. God evolved from mortal man
3. God is a finite man only over planet Earth
4. Every male Mormon is striving to become a god

This is what they teach about the god over planet Earth.  They also believe in polytheism (the belief in more than 1 god).  They believe there are millions of gods and goddesses in the universe populating planets throughout the galaxy including father gods, mother gods, grandfather gods and grandmother gods…millions of Gods.

The Death of Joseph Smith Jr.

Mormons teach that Joseph Smith Jr. dies a martyr.  This is what really happened.  He died in Carthage, Illinois in his prison cell.  He was arrested and jailed in Carthage, Illinois for many crimes including counterfeiting money, stealing horses, burning down a printing press, polygamy and a variety of other crimes against the state.  He was put in the local jail in Carthage.  The Free Masons came to hang him, because they were upset over him stealing all of their secret rituals of Free Masonry and putting them into the Mormon temple.  Before they came to hang him the Mormons had smuggled 2 guns to him and his brother in the jail cell.  Joseph Smith Jr. opened fire when they came to hang him and he killed 2 men before he was gunned down in the jail cell.  Mormons now have turned the jail cell into a Mormon tourist center and claim that Smith’s blood on the ground is the blood he shed for the forgiveness of our sins.  This point already obviously disagrees with The Holy Bible which states that Jesus shed the blood for the forgiveness of our sins.

The Difference Between Christianity and Mormonism

As Joseph Smith Jr. has stated in many sermons and as it is written in their book Mormon Doctrines, every male Mormon is striving to become a God themselves.  This is the obvious difference in Christianity and Mormonism.  Christianity is Monotheism, because it is a belief in only 1 God.  Mormonism is polytheism, because they believe in millions of gods.  That is the main difference and the main doctrine that will, from a Biblical perspective, keep Mormons out of Heaven.  This is very similar to the story of the fall of man.  In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit…what did the serpent say to them?  He said “Your eyes will be open and you will be like God yourself”.  Strange similarity…this brings us back to one of our initial questions: Who was that personage of light that told Joseph Smith Jr. that all of the teachings of The Bible were an abomination?  Let us examine…

Who was That Angel of Light That Came to Joseph Smith Jr?

Who is the angel that sits on the Mormon temples?  Moroni, the angel of light.  It is well documented that Joseph Smith Jr claims Moroni was the angle of light that visited him throughout his life and that Moroni gave him The Book of Mormon.  It was very well documented in the Mormon book Doctrine and Covenants , but after 140 years the Mormons decided to remove the paragraph that documented Moroni being the angel of light that spoke to Smith, but it is still documented elsewhere.  So, what does the Mormon texts say about the angel of light?  The book Mormon Doctrine is setup like a dictionary and reference.  If you look up angel of light in Mormon Doctrine, you will find 2 words.  The words “sea devil”.  What does the book of Mormon say about the angel of light?

“And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light”

2 Nephi 9:9

Their book clearly states that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light.  What does The Bible say about the angel of light?

“And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light”

2 Corinthians 11:14

So, who is this angel of light?  Examine the facts.  An angel of light came to Joseph Smith Jr. and told him that all the Christian churches teachings were wrong (which is in full agreement with Satan) and the revelation that this angel of light gave Smith was the same revelation that the serpent (Satan) gave to Eve in the Garden of Eden…”you can be like God yourself” .

To Sum it Up

When I study religions, I try  to look at all the angles.  You have to understand that I was not a Christian when I first started looking into religions.  I now feel that Christianity is 100% true, but when I started I just knew that it made the most sense and had the most evidence.  I am not writing to tear down any person or individual.  I just want the truth to be out there and I want Mormons to think about what they believe.  Mormons are taught to not read or look at any anti-Mormon literature.   I have never been to a Christian church where they tell you not to look at anti-Christian literature, because there is nothing to hide.  Mormonism has been proven inaccurate and Joseph Smith Jr. was proven to be a false prophet.  When we dove further into it, we saw that it is most likely that Satan is behind Mormonism.  Please understand, from a Biblical perspective, Satan does not care if you are a Satanist or a Mormon, he just does not want you to be a Christian.  What a great way to further confuse people by adding more religions and giving people more choices.  People will believe anything they want to in the end.  All I ask is for you to do the research and know what and why you believe.  If anyone, Mormon or not, is offended or has any questions or comments, please send me a message or leave a comment.  A lot of this information on Mormonism was from Ron Carlson.   I have now included a few extras on Mormonism.

Christians Talking to Mormons

Something that often times comes up as an issue for Christians when talking to Mormons is that Mormons will ask you “have you prayed about Mormonism?”.  Many Mormon missionaries, when backed into a corner, will use this as a way out.  They will say that they have prayed about Mormonism and God told them it was true.  When Mormons ask Christians this question, many times Christians feel like they need to pray about it.  As a Christian, you do not need to pray about something that God has already revealed to you.  You would not pray to God and ask if it is ok to murder somebody or to take The Lord’s name in vain.  When we pray, the only way for us to know for sure who is speaking to us is whether or not what is said to us lines up with God’s word.  See Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16 on the subject of testing things by God’s Word. What does The Bible say about another gospel, other than the gospel of Jesus Christ?  We read about it from the apostle Paul in Galatians 1:6-9:

6I 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— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But 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! 9As 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!

I could post a few more stats and facts about Mormonism, because this article is very summarized, but instead of giving you a little bit more information, I have decided to post a link to a website with tons of factual information on Mormonism.  The site also has more links to Mormon skeptics and even a book list on Mormonism.  Check it out: CARM on Mormonism.