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What does Mormonism teach?
The doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are very interesting. LATTER DAY SAINTS Church tries to make its doctrines appear Christian, but what underlies those Christian sounding terms is far from Christian in meaning.
The following teachings are documented from Mormon writers, not anti-Mormon writers and the following is what Mormons are taught.
1. The true gospel was lost from the earth. Mormonism is its restoration.
2. The book of Mormon is more correct than the Bible.
3. If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no salvation [the context is the full gospel including exaltation to Godhood] outside the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
4. There are many gods.
5. There is a mother god.
6. God used to be a man on another planet.
7. After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god.
8. God the Father had a Father.
9. God resides near a star called Kolob.
10. God the Father has a body of flesh and bones.
11. God is in the form of a man.
12. God is married to his goddess wife and has spirit children.
13. We were first begotten as spirit children in heaven and then born naturally on earth.
14. The first spirit to be born in heaven was Jesus.
15. The Devil was born as a spirit after Jesus "in the morning of pre-existence".
16. Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both.
17. A plan of salvation was needed for the people of earth, so Jesus offered a plan to the father and Satan offered a plan to the father, but Jesus' plan was accepted. In effect the Devil wanted to be the Savior of all Mankind and to "deny men their agency and to dethrone god."
18. God had sexual relations with Mary to make the body of Jesus.
19. Jesus' sacrifice was not able to cleanse us from all our sins.
20. Good works are necessary for salvation.
21. There is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God.
22. Baptism for the dead. This is a practice of baptizing each other in place of non-Mormons who are now dead. Their belief is that in the afterlife, the "newly baptized" person will be able to enter into a higher level of Mormon heaven.
A Biblical Response to Mormons:
It's very hard to witness to a Mormon, that's why it helps to know what Mormonism teaches.
There are two important things to know before you begin evangelizing Mormons. First, you need to understand their terminology and definitions to the same biblical words that you use: Trinity, Jesus, Salvation, Heaven, etc. Second, you must be able to show them that they believe in a wrong Jesus. This is important because only the true Jesus gives eternal life (John 10:28), reveals the Father (Matt. 11:27), and sends the Holy Spirit (John 15:26).
Some important terminology that you need to know:
When a Mormon says he believes in the Trinity, he does not mean the historical orthodox Trinity of one God who exists in three persons. To a Mormon, the Trinity is an office held by three separate gods: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The correct doctrine of the Trinity is that there is only one God who has existed for eternity. This one God exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are not three separate gods, but one God.
When a Mormon says he believes in God he does not mean in the one true God, the creator of all things, the One who has always existed from all time. He means he believes in a god who used to be a man on another planet, who followed the laws and ordinances of that god on that planet and became exalted to godhood. And he has a wife who is a goddess.
If you are in a witnessing situation with a Mormon you might be using the same words, but you won't be speaking the same language. So, it is a very good idea to study Terminology Differences where the definitions of Mormon terms are explained and contrasted with true definitions.
Many Gods
One of the greatest dividing lines between Christianity and Mormonism is their doctrine of the plurality of Gods. Mormonism teaches that there are many many gods. In there desire for legitimacy they will even quote 1 Cor. 8:5 to say that the Bible also teaches many gods. 1 Cor. 8:5 says, "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods' and many ‘lords')." They will say, "see even the Bible says there are many gods." You can say, "It says there are many that are called gods. It doesn't say they really are gods. It is saying that they are only called gods.
