1st uploaded   Sep. 4, 2011

The Mormons - A "Christian" Deception

The Problem

It has come to be my strong conviction that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly known also as the Mormons, are not who they claim to be. They say they believe in and follow Jesus and that they are a restoration of the pure faith of Christianity and Jesus. They say that everything in the Book of Mormon is in the Bible. The truth? I believe they have no real connection with Jesus. Their beliefs contradict nearly everything in the Bible but since most do not know what they really believe, when they say they worship Jesus and that the book of Mormon is no different from the Bible, they are lying fully and completely.

They also say that they do not bother with prophecy and that they concentrate on the fruits of the spirit. But prophecy was the single biggest reason for the Bible in the first place. For Amos does declare: (Amos 3:7) " For the Lord Jehovah will do nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." Prophecy is how God shows His amazing power and foresight and reveals His purpose. To avoid prophecy is to reject God and the Bible. But they avoid prophecy because they have their own set of prophecies that have nothing to do with God's purpose and would contradict the Bible so they stay away from that stuff.

As well, Mormons have many secret rituals and mysteries that take place in their temples which they do not reveal to anyone except those who are members of the Mormon faith who are deemed worthy to have the secrets revealed to them and have them initiated into these "mysteries." So there is the public message they preach at that door and then there is the real message and doctrines which are totally different. They remind me, in some respects, of Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) (so called), who preach one thing at the door and another when they feel the "student," called a "Bible Study," is ready for it, usually when they express interest in becoming and member of the group and getting baptized as one of them. So Mormons are deceptive in their message.

I have come to believe they are deceitful and knowingly and deliberately so. They are not really Christian at all, though they use the name and make claim to it.  I have now come to the conclusion that they are very dangerous and a real threat to people. I believe it important to warn other Christians of what this religious group really stands for. So they have become my 2nd group to be addressed as heretics and apostates by me.

My last and most disturbing aspect to cover on Mormonism are their atrocities, of which there are many, that have been committed by the group and its past leaders and potential problems that may still exist. For Jesus said that by their fruits you will know them (or refute them). As well, Jesus said that good roots do not produce bad fruit and neither to bad roost produce good fruit. If the roots are good, the fruits will be, too. The past history and actions of the Mormons are, to me, perhaps the worst of any group in the mainstream still held in some respect.

So I present my story and my studies of this group so that all may be warned. This is the one group that I would recommend one not let into their homes or bother to talk with much for reason of their obvious deliberate deceit. If they preached what they really practice in secret, out in the open public, I would have far less to find fault with. But since they promote 2 sets of weights and measures, 2 that completely contradict each other, one need not assume any sincerity or benevolence. You have the right to assume the worst. They need to first confess their many sins of the past in their entirety and leave the false doctrines behind. But that is not likely to happen since there is one more problem.

Many Mormons were tricked into becoming members and had no way of escape and were trapped without recourse back in the early days of Brigham Young as President of the Mormons. They are still victims and are threatened with complete alienation of their family and friends, all of which are Mormon. Those born and raised as such have tremendous obstacles to overcome. I will explain this more as we go one.

My 1st Early Encounter
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I first came into contact with Mormons, officially named Latter Day Saints and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in 1990, I think it was or very close to that year, maybe a year or 2 later. They (3 young men) were going door to door and rang at my door. I never turn anyone away who wants to talk about the Bible, of course. They made their presentation and left a tract with me called "23 QUESTIONS" to the right and the "Book of Mormon," their "bible" so to speak, and asked if they could come back to discuss some of the questions and their references, to which I agreed. I looked up a number of the references. I do not recall if I looked them all up. It was a about 20 years ago now. The very 1st question and its "answer" in 2Nephi 29 was amusing to me. So I brought it up to them upon their return. I would have converted it all to text but I reproduce the scan here below so that you can see and Mormons can see that nothing has been tampered with. This is the actual book of Mormon they left me in 1990. It comprises 3 pages with the middle page being whole. There were references printed below the text of the verses, which I eliminated as not relevant to the discussion. The amount of space after the text varies, which is why the bottom lines do not match up. Verse 3 of chap. 29 of 2nd Nephi is very relevant. It states: "3 And because my words shall hiss for us -- -- -- many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible." Indeed, this is the case. Revelation was the seal to the Bible. John was the last Apostle gifted with the miraculous divine spirit that could do extraordinary things that other Christians could not. When John died, so did the extraordinary gifts.

Below is a tract I was given by the Mormons in about 1990

It was these divine powerful works of the spirit obviously coming from God that gave the credibility to the Apostles that they had the same power and authority on earth that Jesus did when he was on earth and as he certainly had in heaven now. So what ever the Apostles bound upon us, was from God, without dispute. They were properly authorized by the spirit. No Mormon ever brought someone back from the dead or even uttered a prophecy that did not later fail. So even if God had more to say, it would require the proof of His most extraordinary powers coming through the one speaking in order for those words to be taken seriously. Joseph Smith never even came close, nor Brigham Young, either.

But let me fill you in on some more of the implications of this chapter 29. Nephi was supposed to have come over here when Jerusalem was threatened by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Judah was conquered by Babylon in 587 BC. So some time not long before this, Nephi and some others escape to the Americas to flee from Babylon. Now another problem also arises in that the Priesthood was divinely appointed by God through His servant Moses, of which God also gave us extraordinary signs and miracles though Moses in great abundance so that we could trust that Moses, indeed, spoke for God. No miracles?? Then no trust! This Priesthood, the tribe of Levi, was to care for the matters of God and His law and worship. They kept all the laws and prophets and other sacred writings and continually made replacement copies and additional copies that could be read in synagogues through out Israel and later Judah-Judea.

They offered the sacrifices and were always available for consultation and sin offerings as they might come up. They kept all the records of God. God only allowed one temple in one location of God's choosing, namely Jerusalem. And only the Levites were authorized to do this. No other tribe could do so nor a Levite as any other location except the temple in Jerusalem. God also require the rest of the tribes of Israel to support the Levites and the temple by giving a tenth of their harvests and creating some laws that allowed the Levite bureaucracy to acquire additional assets and help as might be needed as time went on. This temple, priesthood and bureaucracy was Israel's obligation to God and woe to Israel if they did not keep it.

Any book written by or claimed by anyone, to be the words of God, had to be brought to the priests at the temple to be kept. If the words of prophecies came true, then the temple would recognize the book as coming from a true prophet of God. The Temple was an institution from God, appointed and installed by powerful amazing miracles. This was God's only appointed authority on earth. One time, the Greeks had wanted to write about the Jewish law and its God and worship but odd things happened to prevent it. I will quote here from another article of mine on this site, which covers Joesphus' Antiquities of the Jews - Book XII (12), Chapter 2, section 14. It says a lot about How God protects His religion/faith. If you follow the link, you will need to scroll down to number 14 in the section. But I quote it all here so you don't need to bother with the link if you do not want.

Start excerpt >>
14. So the king rejoiced when he saw that his design of this nature was brought to perfection, to so great advantage; and he was chiefly delighted with hearing the Laws read to him; and was astonished at the deep meaning and wisdom of the legislator. And he began to discourse with Demetrius:

"How it came to pass, that when this legislation was so wonderful, no one, either of the poets or of the historians, had made mention of it."

Demetrius made answer, "that no one dare be so bold as to touch upon the description of these laws, because they were Divine and venerable, and because some that had attempted it were afflicted by God."

He also told him, that "Theopompus was desirous of writing somewhat about them, but was thereupon disturbed in his mind for above thirty days' time; and upon some intermission of his distemper, he appeased God [by prayer], as suspecting that his madness proceeded from that cause." Nay, indeed, he further saw in a dream, that his distemper befell him while he indulged too great a curiosity about Divine matters, and was desirous of publishing them among common men; but when he left off that attempt, he recovered his understanding again.

Moreover, he informed him of Theodectes, the tragic poet, concerning whom it was reported, that when in a certain dramatic representation he was desirous to make mention of things that were contained in the sacred books, he was afflicted with a darkness in his eyes; and that upon his being conscious of the occasion of his distemper, and appeasing God [by prayer], he was freed from that affliction.

[{ Why would God keep men from proclaiming Him, Jehovah? In a word, these men might have started new centers of worship in Egypt, which would have brought competition for Jerusalem and perhaps caused many Jews to leave off coming to Jerusalem for worship and sacrifice. It was vital the Jerusalem and Jehovah's temple remain the only source and center of worship and salvation. It was God's will that all the lost sheep of Israel be given a chance to be a part of the Kingdom of God in heaven and that they have the first chance for that, before Gentiles be offered such a thing. Don't mess around with God and His purpose, no matter how good your intentions are. }]
<< End of Excerpt

God takes His message and purpose real serious and though He allows the devil to do his own thing, the devil is not allowed complete or absolute freedom. He has boundaries and restraints as well. God also has limited Himself to some degree but reserved also a reasonable amount of freedom to preserve His pure message. It may not be everywhere and pervasive but it will be around and accessible, but with God's conditions attached to it. When the Greeks sought to interfere with that, though they did not understand it as interference, that is how God saw it and let them see and feel that, if you get my drift. God wanted only 1 source for His worship, handled by people of His choosing. It was the tribe of Levi of Israel in Jerusalem.

So even if Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had had the best of intentions (which they did not), they would not have been allowed to split form Israel and go off to American to start again. God's will and spirit remained with the Jews in Babylon and would return with the Jews to Judah in 539 BC to begin the restoration of the temple and priesthood and all that went with that. So Smith and Young could not be prophets, even if they had wanted. God had already chosen His path for mankind through his son and the Apostles and though them take it to all the earth, relatively speaking. But the main part of the message was hidden and kept from all men, even God's people, until the appropriate time right near the end. Mormons have now been around for over 150 years and yet the end is still not arrived. We might be close now but 150 years is not close. Smith got the timing all wrong.

I bring this up because the big claim of Smith is still the claim made today that God has chosen to restore His church and Kingdom, which had gone bad long ago. Indeed, Jesus foretold of the devil sowing seeds of weeds (symbolizing corruption) among the wheat (sown by Jesus). Jesus said "let them (the wheat and weeds) grow together until the harvest (the end-judgment) and I will separate the wheat from the weeds and burn the weeds. So there was a great apostasy, though even many Christians to day do not recognize this. But the Mormons could not possibly be this restoration for it is Christ who does the restoring and who sends his angles to gather and separate the 2 from each other at the end. The end has not happened yet.

But Smith would have you believe God has chosen the Mormons through Smith to do this. It is a lie in every sense. So now back to Nephi. He runs to America as the story goes. And tablets are made to be hidden and passed down, which Joseph Smith later (about 2300 years later) will be led to, to revive the Kingdom of God on earth. Nephi warns these tablets will  be rejected by many. And with good reason. They do not harmonize with God's requirements for supposed additions to the Bible.

But now came my next objection to the young missionary men at my door,  of whom I already had 10 years of age on, and far more Bible knowledge as well. I explained that the Bible was not called the Bible and did not exist in a form of a book before the advent of the Apostles and their letters and gospels to the Jews and to the entire world of mankind. They would write letters or scrolls but then they began the practice of making single pages and collecting them in piles or bundles where pages could be flipped and even bound together. They were called little "biblios," which is Greek for a collection of little books. We get the modern day word of "Bibliography" in English from a similar meaning of the collection or list of books referenced. So Christians began the reformation of how the scrolls of God were recorded and published. Before the middle of the 1st century AD, "Bible" as a word to describe God's many words did not exist. In fact, it was likely even later than that. Certainly no sooner than that.

So to use the word "Bible" in say 500 BC or even 400 BC, if your prefer, would be impossible to believe. The form we call the Bible would not come about for another 400 or 500 years or more. Clearly, the words of 2nd Nephi 29 had to be invented by Smith, not Nephi or any Jews. So this is yet another reason why the Book of Mormon can not be from God or have come about to restore God's Kingdom or Church, either. In fact, it has not been restored yet and when it is, it will be by Christ, not Smith or any other man.

Their message was not as good or refined as it was later in 2008. But they emphasized Joseph Smith and praying to God to see if Joseph Smith is a/the true prophet. You are supposed to receive some magical feeling of confirmation and certainty if you are moved by the "spirit." This is their "proof" of their faith, not reason or logic or scriptures. So they gave up after a couple visits. I did bring up that the claim of the book of 2nd Nephi.

Now verses 10 and 11 of Nephi have God saying that He would need more to be written and He can do whatever He wants. Yes, He can, but, He has chosen to limit Himself and us to a specially prescribed way so that we could trust what came to us from Him. So he warned us previously not to trust that which did not come through the Temple and Priesthood of Moses or of His son and the son's Apostles, accompanied by great miracles and wonders. Mormons have had none of those. The Bible was sealed up with John in 96 AD and will remain as such till Christ and his kingdom arrive, after which new scrolls will then be opened according to Revelation. Smith ahs jumped the gun as have his blind followers.

And why are they blind? Because they do not know the Bible. They only know the book of Mormon and do not know why they should not trust that. Knowing God's word, the Bible, is a protection for us for it prevents us from falling for phonies, hoaxes, and lies and all that goes with those. Learn the Bible today if you haven't, already!

My Mormon visitors were stunned. They did not know how to reply. They continued to express their "faith" in Smith and the book of Mormon but they could not answer or explain the use of a Greek word not in existence for another 500 years. Whoops! I asked them about their destiny, whether Heaven, earth or whatever and then explained mine. But at this point, they knew they were blocked. Their prayer to God to settle whether Smith and his book were from God or not, obviously worked ;-) But they did not want to listen to God. God gave them good reason by means of me and they did not want it. They parted respectfully and did not come back. I knew the answer to their prayer before they even started but though God ought to have a chance to make His presence felt if He so desired. This article I write now is part of that answer.

I will also note of the book of Mormon, that it primarily sticks to King James sort of grammar and style. The Bible was written in common Hebrew, symbolic prophetic messages being an exception. Mormon did not have the feel or sense of being Jewish and of about 500 BC nor did it adhere to any of the scriptures. Books have been written by X-Mormons telling much more. I will introduce those later in another article dealing with Mormon History and Doctrine, too. They tell of far more.

My 2nd Encounter in 2008
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I was taking a walk through my neighborhood on a Saturday in the summer of 2008 when I saw three Mormons and said hello and they used that as an opportunity to engage me. I asked them if they believed in the coming of the Antichrist or not, or what they might think about that. They said they did not bother or concern themselves with prophecy but were focused on the fruits of the spirit. At that time, it did not occur to me how silly that was but I was surprised that prophecy as completely avoided. I said nothing. They asked if they might come to visit me sometime soon. I said that was fine. I always like to discuss the Bible and learn more about the beliefs of others. I have never feared ideas or beliefs contrary to mine and sometimes found some beliefs that were better than some of mine.

I did know about the Mountain Meadows Massacre at the time, though not nearly as much about it as I do now, but I did not want to bring that up, for I wanted to know more about what they really believed. At our first real get together, they explained their view of history and God's purpose, and talked about the "Great Apostasy" of the Church/Faith. Indeed, there was such a thing and I marveled that they understood that, or seemed to at the time. They had a few ideas I noted to myself that I would disagree with later. I complimented them that they were out preaching their faith, which was far more than most people of most Christian denominations did. I did not know of their level of deceit or most other things about them at this time.

In 2008, they left this booklet with me. It shows Jesus and it looks sort of authentic but appearances can be deceiving.	This is the back cover of the booklet. I blotted out the names of the 2 "elders," barely 20 if that.	The message of the booklet is tame and designed to get you to let your guard down.
		Below the Book of Mormon left with me back in 90. They have Bibles they could give but they don't bother unless you ask. I already had a variety of them.

I think they were excited that anyone would even listen to them, much less compliment or respect them, though I did at the time. They left a chart of their explanation of things and we agreed to meet and talk again. It is much more satisfying to be able to talk to someone in a positive way than to face constant rejection at the doors so they were eager to continue meeting with me rather than getting doors slammed in their faces.

But it is my opinion, that they might have been wiser, after discerning I was intelligent and well read and knowledgeable of the Bible, to have left me quickly and not revealed their level deceit, as I see it. By continuing to engage me, they let out many things that they should not have, if they wanted to hide what they truly were. Their message is very effective with those who know nothing of the Bible and have not given too many things that much thought. But with those who do know the Bible, trying to pretend that the Book of Mormon has no conflicts with the Bible and is in total harmony with the Bible is pure nonsense. They know it is not and they know they can not stand up to the Bible and they proved that when they were forced to confront the truth and I will get to that, shortly.

The Spartans were clever in their time. They did not like to fight often for they did not want to let their enemies get to see a lot of them in battle and figure out their battle techniques which made them so successful and powerful on the battle field. In fact, Herodotus gives one account of a Spartan who showed some Theban allies a few techniques and he was cursed out by another Spartan for being so stupid and giving away their secrets. Eventually, they were overcome by the Thebans. The Thebans go to know the Spartan tactics a little too well.  

But these are young men are typically rejected at doors and it is not fun or pleasant and lots of bad weather does not help, either. They are desperate for anyone to show any kindness or respect and be willing to listen. With so little positive reinforcement, they will take what they can get and milk it for all its worth. Its a tough situation. Do you take what little relief they have, away, or let them have a break, at the risk of revealing too much? Its a hard call. But I believe they do know that the book of Mormon does not match up with the Bible. More to come on that.

They explained their view of being saved and what God promised for the future and it did not match with the Bible. I took notes at the time so I could gather scriptures to show them on these subjects. On their 3rd visit (I think), they brought a somewhat young "hardliner." Maybe mid 20s or 30. He was one of those tough talking sort of insulting types who tries to intimidate. He basically brought it down to praying about Joseph Smith and whether he was God's prophet or not. I wanted to ask where that was in the Bible but I was getting fed up with this guy.

I had my Bible excerpts from my articles to refute their assertions about the harmony between Mormon and the Bible. But they refused to consider or discuss it. I was told that they were offering a chance to get to know Smith and nothing more. I was free to reject it but they were not interested in anything I had to say. I would go so far as to suggest they were in fear of what I had to say. They knew full well that the book of Mormon did not at all harmonize with the Bible. When confronted, they basically ran away. 2 of them did come back once more a few weeks later, each with a brand new recently opened Bible without a scratch on it. They had never used it once before, I suspect. They quoted one scripture from Isaiah to support them, but were not going to use the book any further than that. I guess they were trying to convince me they at least had Bibles and could quote at least 1 scripture. It did not impress me.

Now they pretend to focus on the fruits of the spirit. And what were those fruits? To avoid the Bible and know nothing about it? Bring nasty people who insist that feelings are a method to determine truth and reasoning? They will never be able to resort to logic and reason. Few denominations can do that, admittedly. But I did later read a book that I will discuss next that reveals what Mormons believe. He was a Mormon for 11 years himself and had advanced some ways into the religion so he knows what he speaks of. What I can tell you in brief is that what they really believe is completely different from what they present at the doors to strangers.

In this respect, they remind me quite a bit of Jehovah's (so called) Witnesses (JWs from here on in). JWs will preach the Bible's more simplistic doctrines in good faith and are very convincing. They strongly encourage people to question their religious leaders and to think for themselves and trust their own ability and not lean on "experts" or "professional" or authorized leaders of their churches or denomination. These are all good things to say and recommend.

But once you begin studying the Bible with them, they will eventually start replacing their original doctrines with complete opposites, worded carefully enough to keep it from being too obvious what they are doing. I dare say, so many of them are not even aware of what they are doing but I believe the leaders know. They will eventually try to convince you that you should not question their leadership or teachings and should not listen to other denominations or religions as if lies were more persuasive than truth. Insane! They start slipping in the authority doctrines that say they are appointed as the only true religion on earth and that God appointed their biggest leaders over all God's "possessions" and gave them authority over all the earth. Claims almost identical to those of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope.

These are the opposite of what they start out with. Once they have won you over and got your defenses down and your trust up, then the switch begins. But JWs do rely far more on the Bible and reasoning, at least early on, than Mormons do. Mormons won't go near the Bible and do not believe much of the Bible, in reality. They have secret beliefs very contrary to the Bible but you won't find out about those until you are hooked and then they will start unveiling the real Mormon doctrines and you will be trapped before you even know it. In comparison with Mormons, JWs are almost saintly.

When I was done with the 3rd visit, I was very angry inside. They had wasted my time with lies and ran like chickens after so boldly and forcefully declaring there was no difference between the Bible and book of Mormon, only to run when asked to prove it. I really and truly believe that they knew better and knew what they were doing and deliberately lying and deceiving and misrepresenting what they truly were. This really simmered inside me. So it was not much later that another TV documentary on the Mountain Meadows Massacre was shown on TV, maybe the History Channel and I got to wonder more about it all since it seemed to me the US Government had helped to cover over the atrocity the Mormons had committed there.

So I looked up the incident on the internet and reviewed different books and bought one that was fairly recently published and said to be far more informative than all the rest previously published and indeed, it was. I also obtained another book by the same author relating the conversion of her former great great grandmother to the Mormon faith in the 1850s. As well, I got a book I already mentioned from a former member discussing their real beliefs, which are totally pagan and opposed to the Bible.

These investigations proved even more shocking than what I had already experienced or known previously. I had consoled the last Mormons about the brutality of a mob killing Joseph Smith way back when. I thought it was outrageous intolerance. But I knew nothing about what really happened or why he was killed. Having learned the truth, I believe he was justly killed for his criminal activity on many counts. More in my Mormon History article on that.

But it was now that I realized how treacherous and deceitful this whole religion really was. I began to suspect far worse plans and relations with government and other secretive questionable groups that pointed to possible greater dangers we might yet have to face in the USA. So I felt that of all the Christian denominations in existence, this is, hands down, the worst of any of them, by a considerable margin. I felt they needed to be exposed as they truly never have been before.

Most denominations, while perhaps corrupted, do stand on the Bible and claim to get their teaching from it and to some degree, this is partially so. But not with Mormons. They truly disown the Bible entirely, as far as I am concerned. They are unlike any other Christian denomination I have even seen. And it was those Mormon Missionaries in 2008 that really set it all off. They came with the intention of fully lying and misrepresenting themselves in my eyes. This needed to be exposed and stopped. As well, though not likely to listen, Mormons need to hear the truth. Those who are not Mormons also need to hear the truth and beware of the deceit these people bring to your doors. To be forewarned is to be forearmed and prepared.

Ed Decker Tells All
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Ed Decker was a Mormon, himself for 11 years. His goal was to let people know what Mormons really believe. It is not in Jesus or the Bible, either. You need to know. Everyone needs to know how phony this religion is. And they are or or have the potential to be very dangerous. Another must read book. Mormons have everyone convinced they believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible. Don't believe it for a second. They use this pretense to get you to give them a try, while you know nothing about them. They try to overwhelm you with warmth, friendliness, helpfulness, belonging, and a sense of community. But once they got you hooked, they will slowly get you to accept a much different set of doctrines and beliefs. I will address Ed Decker's book, "The God Makers," here in this article now.

Brutal Cult Origins
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The book is The God Makers. But "Brutal Cult Origins" might be more appropriate, if you add in all the history. But Decker deals with doctrine, their real but very secret doctrine of what they really believe and not what they publicly tell you they believe. I will try to sum up briefly what this book entails, but the book is very cheap used and is excellent. 

This section is not done yet but is waiting for more time on my part. Stay tuned!

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