When Strangers Come Knocking---Part 2

This is the next installment of my series to be published the first Monday of each month.

There are members of false sects, like Jehovah's Witnesses, that come knocking door-to-door hoping to convert you. Instead of ignoring them, it is we who should try and convert them. In 1 Peter 3:16, our first Pope writes, "But in thy hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks thee to give the reason for the hope that thou hast. But do this with gentleness and respect,..." Before the Great Apostasy, the Church would send missionaries to the ends of the Earth to make as many converts as possible. 

Those in false religions don't always come (literally) knocking at your door. It may be a Hindu at work who wants you to try yoga. It could be a "Christian Scientist" who lives next door and invites you to come to their reading room. Each month, I will present a false sect. Unlike the Vatican II sect, I do not see them as a "means of salvation" or possessing "elements of truth" that lead to salvation. That is heresy. They lead to damnation, and the adherents of the various sects must be converted so they may be saved.

In each month's post, I will present one false sect and give an overview of:

• The sect's history
• Their theology
• Tips on how to share the True Faith with them

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka "Mormons")

One of the most confusing sects is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" (hereinafter referred to as the Mormon Sect and their members Mormons). Their history is so complex and their theology so bizarre, it's hard to compress it into one post; but I will try my best. There are actually three branches of Mormonism, but I'll stick with the first and largest branch founded by Joseph Smith and continued by Brigham Young. The Mormon sect began in New York, and now is not just limited to the United States. They proselytize all over the world. As of 2018, there are approximately 16 million Mormons worldwide, and almost 60% live in the U.S. Much of Mormonism comes from Masonry, as Joseph Smith was himself a Mason and incorporated many Masonic teachings; they also refer to the place they assemble as "temples." They are polytheistic.

On March 9, 2019, Jorge Bergoglio met with top Mormon leaders on the occasion of the opening of the first Mormon temple in Rome. I found it supremely ironic that Rome had polytheistic pagan temples when Catholicism began, and now the false "Catholic" Vatican II sect welcomes back polytheistic pagans to reopen a temple, with a smiling Bergoglio acting as "pope."
 (See   https://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2019/pope-meets-top-leaders-of-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints.cfm).

1. History
Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805 to Joseph and Lucy Smith of Vermont. He was the fourth of nine children. When Joseph was 12, his parents relocated to a farm in Palmyra, New York. Both his parents were deeply involved in the occult and were nominal Protestants. They suddenly decided to join a local Presbyterian church. This was the religious environment in which young Smith was raised. In 1820, there was an attempt to recruit new members by the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist sects in New York. Smith didn't want to join any of them, and instead questioned which religion, if any, was true.

After reading St. James 1:5 in his Bible ("If any of thee lacks wisdom, thou should ask God, Who giveth generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to thee."), Smith claims he went into the woods to pray, and received a vision of Jesus Christ and God the Father. He asked them which religion he should join, and they allegedly told him, "Join none of them, for they were all wrong,..."all their creeds were an abomination..." (See Pearl of Great Price, by Joseph Smith, 1:19).

On September 21, 1823, an angel named Maroni appeared to Smith and showed him golden plates buried in a hill called Cumorah, that were written in "Reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics." (There is no such language). He was given two special stones called Urim and Thummim. By looking through these special stones he would be able to translate the golden plates into English. Three of his friends, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, claimed that, while in the company of Smith, Maroni appeared and showed them the golden plates. Some accounts claim Smith used a third stone to translate the plates. Now married, Smith stayed behind a curtain calling out to his wife and friends the "correct translation." He would never allow his wife (the first of "up to 40" according to the Mormon sect) or his friends to see the plates, or how he translated them by looking through the stone. When the Book of Mormon was complete, he "returned the plates" to Maroni.

The Book of Mormon was completed in 1830, and Mormonism was formally declared to be the true religion restored on April 6, 1830. Smith's never ending private revelations resulted in a second book, Doctrine and Covenants in 1835. Some of his writings were published posthumously as Pearl of Great Price. The Book of Mormon is the alleged history of Jews who came to America roughly 1700 years prior to Columbus.

Smith soon gained many followers and he established a Mormon presence in Missouri, and Illinois. Later, Brigham Young would succeed Smith and lead the Mormons to the Utah territory. The Mormons were persecuted by some for their strange, unorthodox, and heretical beliefs, and for still calling themselves "Christian." Mormons, considered "peaceful" have a very violent history, and would brutally retaliate against anyone who got in their way (e.g. the "Danites" who were formed as "destroying angels" to seek revenge and brutally murder opponents; the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 when Mormons, disguised as Native Americans, slaughtered 120 innocent people on a wagon train as revenge for persecution [even though the people on the wagon train never did anything]--they then tried to pin the blame on the local Native Americans).

In 1844, Smith, who had been elected mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois (which had a sizable Mormon population) was jailed, along with several other Mormon leaders, on charges of rioting. He had ordered a newspaper critical of Mormons to be destroyed. An angry mob stormed the jail. Smith and his cohorts had smuggled guns into the jail cell and fired into the mob, which returned fire, thereby "martyring" Smith on June 27, 1844, at the age of 38.

2. Theology
The theological position of Mormonism is so utterly strange, it's hard to know exactly how it should be presented, and which parts are most important. I have tried my best to condense it all below.

• God the Father was once a man, and is still made of flesh and blood. Mormons quote Brigham Young, their second leader (or "prophet") as saying, "What you are, God once was. What God is now, you may become." 

• They have four "inspired books" given by God, the Bible, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. The Book of Mormon is of the highest authority over the other three

• There is an infinite series of previous gods. Each god gave birth to another and each rules over a separate world or universe

• The Trinity is actually three gods. The Father and Christ have bodies, but the Holy Ghost currently has a "spirit-body"

• God the Father has a physical wife with whom he had intercourse and gave birth to a "spirit-child" who was Christ. All the rest of angels and humans came after as spirit-children. Lucifer is Christ's brother (!) God the Father then took Mary as a "second wife" to give Christ his human form

• There is no Original Sin. We stand condemned for our own personal sins exclusively

• Christ had three wives and many children before his crucifixion, and was exalted to Godhood at the Resurrection 

• As a result of Christ's death all humanity will be resurrected, and sets all people on the road to godhood, so they can rule a world or universe of their own with their family

• Since spirit-children need to be born of flesh, it is imperative that you get into many marriages and have many children (Mormons have since suppressed the polygamy part)

• Since there was universal apostasy until Joseph Smith, you can baptize dead people (vicariously, by proxy) and make them Mormon
• All will eventually be saved. Jesus Christ will reign on Earth, the righteous will go to one of three Heavens. Those in the highest Heaven become gods of their own world; these are Mormons who were devout and attended the temple ceremonies and obeyed all teachings fastidiously. The evil will go to Hell, but can eventually repent and get to the lowest Heaven

• The Church is ruled by the President who is successor to Joseph Smith, and a "prophet." Any revelation he gets binds all Mormons. "God" can, and has, contradicted himself through his alleged revelations to the Presidents (e.g., polygamy)  

(The above two sections were compiled from several sources and condensed, most notably James Allen and Glenn Leonard, The Story of the Latter Day Saints, (1976), and Handbook of Denominations in the United States by Roger Olsen).

3. Proselytizing Mormons

Mormons have two weak points upon which they are most vulnerable: The Book of Mormon, and their founder Joseph Smith. Each will be examined in turn.

The Book of Mormon (BOM)

• There were no witnesses to the so-called golden plates except for Smith himself. The first group of friends (Cowdry, Whitmer, and Harris) were later denounced by Smith as "men of low character." Their stories did not agree, and before his death, Harris admitted that he saw the plates "with the eyes of faith," not literally. There was a second group of eight people who claimed to have seen the plates--all related to Whitmer. Later, Smith would expel the entire family as unreliable apostates. Hence, no witnesses

• The BOM has over 25,000 words plagiarized from the Protestant King James Version of the Bible. The words of St Paul are placed in the mouths of people who are alleged to have lived centuries before Christ

• Over 2,000 "corrections" were made to the BOM since 1830, and altered the meaning. How could it be in need of correction if Smith wrote under divine guidance? Yet Mormons claim the BOM is "more accurate" than the Bible

• There is no such thing as "Reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics"--nor is there any evidence of anything even remotely like Egyptian hieroglyphics in ancient North America

Joseph Smith, Jr.
It is not an ad hominem attack to show that someone is a proven liar. If Smith lies and his prophesies are false, they could not come from God.

• Smith claimed as prophecy that by 1891, the Earth would be burned up, New York, Albany, and Boston would be desolate, and Smith would be alive for the Second Coming (See Doctrines and Covenants, 29, 112). The Bible tells us, "But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death. You may say to yourselves, 'How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?' 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, so do not be alarmed." (Deuteronomy 18: 20-22; Emphasis mine)
• In Journal of Discourses, a collection of other Smith prophesies, he predicted the 10 lost tribes of Israel would be found in the Arctic with copies of the Bible. He also believed men who were six-feet tall and looked like Quakers lived on the moon

Some Other Talking Points

• If people evolve to become gods, where did the first person begin? People are not almighty, so the Mormon idea of an infinite regression of gods has many problems. If there were a first God then He must subsist by necessity and does not "progress." He is superior to all.

•  If the Mormon Church were truly a "restored Church," one would expect to find first-century historical evidence for Mormon doctrines like the plurality of gods and God the Father having once been a man. Such evidence is completely lacking. Moreover, the Bible warns the Great Apostasy shall be a majority, but not a totality. "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1; Emphasis mine). 

• The Trinity cannot be three gods. Trusting in or worshiping more than One True God is explicitly condemned throughout the Bible (e.g., Ex. 20:3; "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.").

(See also LaTayne Scott, Why We Left Mormonism, [1990], and Leaving Mormonism: Why Four Scholars Changed Their Minds, by Miller, et. al. [2017]). 

Conclusion

The Mormons are modern day polytheistic pagans, masquerading as "Christians." Their doctrines are wacky and convoluted in the extreme. The Mormon sect founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., was raised in a home teeming with the occult, and became a Freemason early in his young adulthood. He incorporated Masonic doctrines with his own lies. He beguiled many into following him and making him powerful. Like Satan, he was a liar and a murderer, preaching violence and revenge to any that stood in his way. May your attempts at converting members of his false religion be fruitful. 

As the modern day heathens place a Masonic-polytheistic temple in once Catholic Rome, Jorge Bergoglio greets them with smiles and hugs. Not a word of condemnation for their errors. No warning to the people of Italy to stay away. No imploring them to join the One True Church. Yet he is "pope?" As Rome is officially re-paganized, the "recognize and resist" crowd join the Vatican II sect in calling this miserable apostate the "Vicar of Christ."