What I Wish I Knew Sixteen Years Ago About Sharing The Good News With Mormons

https://straighttalkwithclaudiak.com/what-i-wish-i-knew-sixteen-years-ago-about-sharing-the-good-news-with-mormons/

Why You Can’t Get to Heaven through the Mormon Faith

by Eric Davis

The Church of Latter-Day Saints is no longer an obscure religion confined to a small following across the west and mid-western United States. As of 2018, the LDS faith claims over 16 million followers across 176 nations and territories, with some 67,000 missionaries. At the close of 2018, there exists 161 temples, with 11 currently under construction, and 29 new ones recently announced. Temples pepper the landscapes of North and South America. And there are more across the globe from places like Finland, France, and Fiji, to Tonga and Taiwan, and Japan, Sweden, Australia, and across Africa.

Despite the rate at which it has grown, Mormonism contains fatal doctrinal problems. Though it has attracted many, it cannot be said that adherence to it will lead one to heaven. This is no minor issue. Eternity is at stake. If we love people; truly love the soul and well-being of a person, we will be concerned about their life through eternity. If there is a truck barrelling down the road at you and I don’t get you out of the way, I fail to love you. Here are a few reasons why Mormon doctrine cannot save:

1. Mormonism cannot lead you to heaven because it departs from the sufficiency of the Bible.

The LDS faith teaches that the Book of Mormon is sacred Scripture, being “another testament of Jesus Christ.” It possesses equal, if not greater, authority as the Bible, and is, therefore, the word of God. Mormonism holds that Joseph Smith discovered the Book of Mormon as a teenager in its original form in Manchester, New York on a hill called Cumorah. The book was recorded on gold plates long ago in an ancient Egyptian-type language. In 1823, Joseph Smith claimed to have been directed by the angel, Moroni, to discover and translate the contents, which became the Book of Mormon.

Mormonism teaches that Smith was a prophet like Moses and Isaiah, chosen by God to restore the true Church of Jesus Christ using the text from the plates.

The content of the Book of Mormon rejects the idea that the Bible alone is the sufficient word of God: “Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible” (2 Nephi 29:6).

Along with the Book of Mormon and the Bible, Mormonism affirms the canonicity of two other works, The Doctrine and Covenants, and Joseph Smith’s work, The Pearl of Great Price. New revelation is also permitted, which, similar to papal authority in Roman Catholicism, can arise from the Prophet, or President of the Church.

This violates the clear teaching of the sufficiency of Scripture: “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar” (Prov 30:5-6; cf. Deut. 4:2, 2 Pet. 1:3, Rev. 22:18-19). Since it imposes an entire book onto the word of God, the LDS faith is on extraordinarily shaky ground.

There is more: https://thecripplegate.com/why-you-cant-get-to-heaven-through-the-mormon-faith/

Two Religions That Claim to Be Christian

https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/327629-two-religions-that-claim-to-be-christian.html

Dear Mormon—I Can’t Call You a Brother in Christ

https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/337174-dear-mormon-i-cant-call-you-a-brother-in-christ-josh-buice.html

Joseph Smith, Mormons and the Godhead

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How do Mormons and Christians compare when it comes to an understanding of God? We both use the term “Godhead” but don’t necessarily use it in the same way.

Historical Christianity has understood the Godhead as a Trinity, one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

What did Joseph Smith, Jr. teach? This is from his Lectures on Faith:

Q. How many personages are there in the Godhead?

A. Two: the Father and the Son.

Q. How do you prove that there are two personages in the Godhead?

A. By the Scriptures: Genesis 1:27 (Inspired Version); “And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so.” …. (Lecture Five)

It should be clarified that the “Inspired Version,” also known as the Joseph Smith Translation, it is not really a Bible translation, not even like the Jehovah’s Witnesses’s New World Translation. The JST is more of a midrash, that is a paraphrase and interpretation and it is not based on translating Hebrew and Greek. Interestingly, the official translation of the Bible for Mormons is the King James Version and not the Joseph Smith Translation.

This is what Genesis 1:26-27 says in a recognized translation, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [a]sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Aside from differences in how the Father and Son relate to each other, Joseph Smith taught that only the Father and the Son were a part of the Godhead. However, in the same lecture, Smith claims that the mind that is shared by the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit. He then says:

Q. Do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constitute the Godhead?

A. They do.

This seeming contradiction is because Smith saw the Godhead as comprising two persons (Father and Son) and their shared mind (Holy Spirit). This is far from historical Christianity that claims that Father, Son and Spirit are all person and comprise the same God.

65 Reasons Why the Mormon Church is Not True

From Latter-Day Sense Evangelism

https://latterdaysense.org/2017/06/16/65-reasons-why-the-mormon-church-is-not-true/

Who Is the God of Mormonism?

One thing you’ll discover as you’re talking with your Mormon (LDS) friends is that though we use the same terms, we often mean very different things. Mormons have different definitions of Gospel, repentance, salvation, grace, Hell, and nearly every term you’ll be using in your conversation. If you fail to explicitly define your terms, you could easily leave the conversation thinking you’re both in complete agreement. (Ask, “What do you mean by that?” early and often!)

The term “God” is no exception to this. In fact, it’s the most foundational difference between Christian and LDS theology.

An Exalted Man

Go to: https://www.str.org/blog/who-god-mormonism#.Wn8OQ5PwZTZ

What is Mormonism?

https://carm.org/what-is-mormonism

Dear Mormon—I Can’t Call You a Brother in Christ

Yesterday I had lunch with a very kind and gracious man in our community.  This man is a committed member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  In short, my friend is a Mormon.  He was respectful, gracious, and I enjoyed our conversation very much.  However, at one point the conversation shifted and he asked me if I was willing to call him a brother in Christ?

I explained that we both hold to very different doctrines that cannot stand in harmony—especially the teachings about the person and work of Jesus Christ.  He said that he was offended by that statement.  I acknowledged how that would be offensive, but I must stand upon the gospel of Christ.  The most loving thing I could do would be to point him to the truth.  The most unloving thing I could do would be to ignore the differences and embrace him as a brother in Christ.

The devil is the father of all lies and he is really good at causing people to embrace error as truth.  How do you determine the difference between denominations of Christianity and other religions outside of Christianity?  In other words, we know that Baptists and Methodists are quite different on many theological levels, but they’re both Christian denominations.  Today, a growing number of people continue to purport the idea that Mormonism is just another denomination like Methodists within the family of orthodox Christianity.

How can we determine if Mormonism is Christian or cult?  Based on foundational doctrinal evidence—I can’t embrace Mormons as fellow Christians.

Mormonism Rejects the Sufficiency of the Bible

Go to: http://www.deliveredbygrace.com/mormon-cant-call-you-christian/

Why Would Scholars Leave Mormonism? Interview With Author Corey Miller

https://stream.org/scholars-leave-mormonism-interview-author-corey-miller/