Mormon bishop Nate Sharp wrote a blog article aimed at “Dispelling 5 More Myths About Mormons.” I want to take a look at the first ”myth” he tackled:
“Myth #1: Mormons believe in a ‘different Jesus.’
“One myth about Mormons is the notion that we believe in a ‘different Jesus.’ In reality, of course, there is one and only one Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth, whose life, ministry, Atonement, death, and resurrection are recounted in the New Testament, is the center of our faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons worship and accept Jesus Christ as King of kings, Lord of lords, Creator of the universe, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, and the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. Jesus is the ‘author and finisher of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2) and ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6). We believe His is the only name under heaven whereby mankind can be saved.”
The assertion that there is no such thing as a “different Jesus” has been around for as long as I’ve been investigating Mormonism. Dr. Sharp is correct, of course, that “there is one and only one [true] Jesus Christ”; that is, one being named Jesus who is in fact God’s promised Messiah. But this does not eliminate the possibility that people may invent what is in reality a “different Jesus.” Dr. Sharp’s list of similarities between Mormonism’s Jesus and the biblical Jesus does not validate his assertion that they are one and the same.
By way of analogy, retired heavyweight boxer George Foreman has five sons – all of them are named George Foreman. Though there are some differences between these five sons (not all have the same mother, for instance), there are many similarities between them. They share a common name, a common father, and common siblings. At least three of them grew up in the same home, went to the same schools, and ate dinner at the same table each night. Yet these are not one George Foreman, but five George Foremans. In spite of them having the same name, and many shared life experiences and attributes, they are different George Foremans.
So, too, with the biblical Jesus and the “different Jesus” of Mormonism. They share many things: they have a common name, are called by common titles, are said to be from the same birthplace, etc. But they have many more differences than similarities. And these significant differences account for the so-called “myth” of Mormonism’s “different Jesus.”
The apostle Paul wrote about “another Jesus” as he shared his concern that the Corinthian church could be led astray from “a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” He chastised them as they seemed to lack discernment:
“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)
So while there is one true Jesus, one true spirit, and one true gospel, God tells us to watch out for “different” (false) saviors, spirits and gospels. Jesus Himself provides a strong warning:
“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24)
According to the Bible, there certainly is such a thing as a “different Jesus.” The question, then, is whether “Mormons believe in a ‘different Jesus’” or whether this “notion” is a myth.
A Mormon prophet, a Mormon apostle, and a Mormon Seventy all taught that Mormons believe in a different Jesus Christ than Christians do:
“As a church we have critics, many of them. They say we do not believe in the traditional Christ of Christianity. There is some substance to what they say.” (Gordon Hinckley, “We look to Christ,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May 2002, 90)
“And virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966, 269)
“It is true that many of the Christian churches worship a different Jesus Christ than is worshipped by the Mormons or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (Bernard P. Brockbank, “The Living Christ,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May 1977, 26).
So the “different Jesus” of Mormonism is not a myth. But what about Dr. Sharp’s description of Mormonism’s Jesus? It sounds biblical. It sounds like the Jesus Christ Mormons follow is the same Jesus that is revealed in the New Testament. Yet if we examine Mormonism a bit more closely we find that this is not so. I want to look at just a few of the attributes Dr. Sharp highlighted in his article. I’ll do that in a follow-up blog on Thursday.
You’re going to be discussing a common diversionary tactic of Mormon missionaries: answering the wrong question. As you pointed out, the missionaries will take the question about Christ and in response explain simply that they “believe in Jesus.” They will not discuss the actual differences between the beliefs of Mormons and traditional Christianity unless they are pressed, even though their scriptures openly ridicule the traditional Christian beliefs about Jesus. For example, this is one of the Mormon scriptures about traditional Christian beliefs about Christ:
“[T]he Personage [Jesus Christ] who addressed me said that all their [traditional Christian] creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt….”
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.19?lang=eng
From that moment on, Joseph Smith and all Mormons since have essentially taught a different Jesus.
Mormon Bishop Sharp said ” One myth about Mormons is the notion that we believe in a ‘ different Jesus ‘ ” .
While I can’t judge every rank and file Mormon as to whether they believe in a different Jesus ( i.e. a counterfeit one ) than the one the Bible reveals , I can see what Mormon leaders have taught about Jesus and compare those teachings with what the Bible teaches about Him . Mormon leaders have failed that test , thus they are false prophets who teach ” another Jesus” . This was Paul’s concern .
Latter days false prophets may be well dressed and polite individuals , but they teach / condone false doctrine . Brigham Young was a textbook example of the type of prophet Jesus warned about would come on the scene in the latter days — Matt 24:11 .
Some scriptures in the New Testament that are relevant today in helping identifying false prophets/ messengers :
Matt 24 : 11 ; 2Cor 11:4, 13-15 ; Gal 1:8-9 ; 2 Tim 4:3,4 ; 2Jn 7-9 .
What Mormon leaders taught about Jesus :
– He is the spirit brother of Satan .
– He is a polygamist
– He was born a spirit baby in heaven by the sexual relations of a male God and a Goddess .
– In heaven He was taught how to be a God , this schooling progressed until He was finally smart and
strong enough to create the stars and part the Red Sea etc . , He could now be called a God and was
given the name Jehovah .
– He is Jehovah but there are Gods higher than Him , ones with more dominion than He .
– There are sins that His blood will not cleanse unless the sinner sheds his blood also to atone .
Ever since Mormon leaders decided to agressively promote their church as being another Christian church on the block type of advertisement in an effort to proselytize more successfully , they resort to citing N.T. verses about Jesus to convince their audience they are little different than traditional Christianity . This tactic has worked well in the last 40 years or so . When someone asks enough questions ( or the right questions) then more info about what Mormonism has taught about Jesus is admitted , but by and large the type of statement that Bishop Sharp made is why Mormonism has sold well . Thankfully , ministries like MRM have provided people with more of the story about what Mormon leaders have been up to so people can see the whole picture .
I think it’s telling that even in artwork, Mormons portray Jesus differently. They use their own sculptures, paintings, etc. It seems this is basically admitting they are following a different Jesus than the one of historical Christianity.
I would kind of agree; however, I’d probably say more of a “reflection” than an “admission.”
Ya gotta watch these Mormons. They are tricky little rascals.
As an example, they’ll say that their god is eternal while they know that the millions if not billions of gods that inhabit the pantheon of Mormon gods are created beings. They claim “eternal” for their god of this world because all matter is eternal. Get it? They are also having to rework their claim that the American Indians were the ancestors of a lost tribe of middle eastern Jews. The one I saw recently was that the “LDS church has never claimed this”. The explanation for no Semitic DNA was that it was just a small number of Jews that made it here in their magic boats and when they mated with the Indians, well the DNA just sort of disappeared.
I know we all laugh at the absurdity of all of this but the topic at hand, “Who is Jesus?” is much more serious. All you have to do is tell someone who is not familiar with Mormonism that the Mormon Jesus is the spirit offspring of the Mormon god of this planet and one of his plural wives that live on or near the planet Kolob and the idea of a different Jesus need not be expanded on. It’s way obvious that these LDS folks have embraced total lunacy.
But look at all the similarities! Gee, they were born “at Jerusalem” right? That makes them the same!
The minute a rank and file Mormon admits to me the significant differences between their Jesus and the true Jesus will be a moment. But Mormons love to say how similar the faiths are, and rarely look beyond the superficiality of these similarities.
The differences between the traditional Jesus known to the rest of the Christian world and the Mormon Jesus begin at His virgin birth. Keep in mind that Mormons do not believe in the traditional Trinity. Instead, Mormons believe that the members of the Godhead are three separate and distinct Gods with three separate and distinct physical bodies (except for the Holy Ghost who only has a separate and distinct spirit body for now).
This becomes even more significant when one considers the conception of Jesus Christ. The Bible would lead one to believe that the Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary and through a virgin birth she became with child.
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee…” Luke 1: 35
Not according to the LDS Church. According to the Mormons –
“Christ was begotten by an immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966, p. 547)
Elder McConkie did not make up the concept that Jesus was conceived through physical relations between God and Mary. It is a doctrine taught by Mormon leaders such as Brigham Young, Joseph F. Smith, James Talmage, and Ezra Taft Benson. The Mormon Prophet Brigham Young did not mince words:
“The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood—was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:115)
And as Brigham Young has said, when he taught the saints, it was scripture:
“I say now, when they [my sermons] are copied and approved by me they are as good Scripture as is couched in this Bible . . . ” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 264)
“I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 95)
Was Brigham Young mistaken? If so, that calls into question all of his scriptural pronouncements, not to mention the central tenet of the Mormon faith that their prophets speak for God.
No, it is not wrong to say that [Utah] Mormonism embraces a different Jesus.
“One myth about Mormons is the notion that we believe in a ‘different Jesus.’ In reality, of course, there is one and only one Jesus Christ.”
Nobody is arguing that there were multiple Jesuses living at the same time. To conclude that “since Christians and Mormons both believe in only one historical Jesus, therefore they both serve the same Jesus” is nonsense. Muslims believe in only one historical Jesus as well, and yet Mormons would not say that they serve the same Jesus, unless of course it is inconsequential what anyone believes about the historical Jesus. But Mormons do promote their own version of the historical Jesus, therefore he is lying to us and himself when he suggests that since Christians and Mormons both believe in only one historical Jesus therefore they both serve the same Jesus.
“Jesus of Nazareth, whose life, . . .”
. . . who was only another god alongside the Father and a different Being and Substance entirely.
“ministry, . . .”
. . . which failed completely after he died and had to be restored by a mortal creature.
“Atonement, . . .”
. . . which happened in the garden and not on the Cross.
“death, and resurrection are recounted in the New Testament, . . .”
. . . which has been lost in its original form and today only exists in a shell of some truths, omissions, and falsehoods.
“is the center of our faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
. . . which is a restoration of Jesus’ church which had been rotting dead and decapitated for 1800 years.
“Mormons worship and accept Jesus Christ as King of kings, Lord of lords, Creator of the universe, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, . . .”
. . . but who is not fully the one true God but rather an eternal spirit progressed to godhood in the eternal pantheon of myriads of other gods.
“and the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. Jesus is the ‘author and finisher of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2) and ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6). We believe His is the only name under heaven whereby mankind can be saved.”
And yet all people are already saved whether they confess his name or curse it, but those who curse the name of Joseph Smith after accepting him as Prophet are condemned to outer darkness.
Yeah, I’d say that clearly Mormons embrace a false and blasphemous caricature of the one historical Jesus.
Here’s the sad thing. So many LDS know but at the same time don’t know. They think they are special and have this super duper spiritual thing going on that’s a restoration of the lost gospel. They know they are better than Christians who are all deceived. They know the Bible is corrupt and their church is true and also perfect. As to Jesus? I don’t think the average LDS member has a clue. There are many, probably most, who join-up not knowing a thing about the difference regarding the nature of God. They just know that the folks they are joining-up with are a sincere, devout, clean living bunch who have a living prophet.
It’s difficult on some level to feel sympathy for their ignorance when the truth, facts, evidence is staring them right in the face.
Falcon —
Yes, the truth is staring Mormons in the face, but only on the Internet, and Mormons have been cautioned not to read any of the false, faith-destroying information about their Church on the Internet. And even if they can sneak a peek at sites like Mormon Coffee, they’re terrified to mention it or ask questions at church. They would risk losing their family, their friends, even their jobs. They might work up the nerve someday, and that’s why Christ teaches patience.
And Jesus isn’t the only one recommending patience. Thomas Jefferson suggested:
“Truth advances, and error recedes step by step only; and to do to our fellow men the most good in our power, we must lead where we can, follow where we cannot, and still go with them, watching always the favorable moment for helping them to another step.”
Buff, How prevalent is that sentiment to avoid negative information about the church? Its one of those things you hear about but Mormons typically deny.
………….and the interesting thing is the number of former Mormons who will report getting all the information they needed right off of LDS church oriented websites. That’s the “hiding in plain sight” part of the deal. But what this does is give the Mormon authorities the ability to say, “We never hide anything.” Oh really? There are sins of omission and sins of commission. The LDS church are masters at this. The people quite often don’t even know the information is there. It certainly won’t be brought-up when the home teachers coming knocking on the door.
Point is, these faithful LDS members don’t have any sort of reason to look. Part is fear of course, then maybe contentment with the status quo. If someone is happy and content in the LDS church, why would they even question? These cults go absolutely bonkers over the idea of anyone leaving, especially resigning. And once a person does leave, they won’t be left alone.
A topic like this one, centering on the difference between the LDS Jesus and the Biblical Jesus might be enough to get some curiosity going.
Just came across this. It’s of recent vintage. For you LDS readers, I think you might be interested in what these folks have to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnCU2lp9h3s
My own family is a perfect example of people who have no desire whatsoever to question the Mormon Church. One of them is immersed in the social structure; it’s her entire social life and she does not want to disturb it. Another is just incredibly naive and actually believes Church leaders who claim traditional Christianity is of the devil and that the Internet is completely evil and full of lies. Another is very intelligent and knows all about the Church’s flaws, but his job depends on the Church and being a member in good standing. And another is a timid, fearful soul whose wife and her entire family will isolate him and shun him if he even asks a question.
Patience is the only option with them, waiting for a window of opportunity when they will have the courage and will to step forward and take a stand.
buff
Based on what you reported regarding your family, you may have some interest in the video I posted the link to. The audio is kind of marginal, but there are a few other videos from the same conference with a better (audio).
historybuff,
Thanks for mentioning the infamous Mormon doctrine of the Virgin birth of Jesus , I forgot that one .
You said , ” The difference between the traditional Jesus known to the rest of Christian world and the Mormon Jesus begin at His Virgin birth .”
Not quite sure you meant by that . The difference between the counterfeit Jesus which Mormon leaders have taught , and the traditional doctrine of Jesus actually starts in heaven prior to His coming down to earth and becoming a man . I listed a few Mormon teachings concerning this in my first post above . The true Jehovah God we meet in the Bible became a man and was born at Bethlehem , His name is Jesus Christ — Jn 8:58 with Ex 3:14 . That great truth blew the minds of most Jews who met Him / heard Him as He walked from own to town .
Mormons feel that since they also call Him Jehovah that means they follow the same Jesus . That’s simply not true , and it unfortunately serves to fool people into thinking Mormonism is compatible with traditional Christianity .
The true Lord God Almighty was always such . But Mormon leaders have taught that a spirit baby born to a male God and a Goddess in heaven then entered schooling there to learn how to be a God . He had many literal brothers and sisters , one brother of His was Lucifer . Eventually this spirit son became smart enough and strong enough to be called Jehovah God . This means that at one time while in heaven He could’nt have known how to number the stars ( Ps 147 :5 ) nor would he have been strong enough to part the Red Sea ( Ex 14:21 ) . That’s not the Jehovah God we meet in
the Bible ! Compare : Ps 145:3 — He greatness is unfathomable . Isa 44:6-8 ; 46:5,9 — He is incomparable , no other gods can measure up to Him , He is utterly unique . Psalms — He has always been God Almighty . Additionally , He does’nt have a Goddess as a heavenly mother , nor does He need one ; He also does’nt have men who attained Godhood on some other planet and who became His Father and Grandfather .
Yet that is some of things that Mormon leaders have taught about Him .
No thanks . I’m sticking with the true prophets and apostles in the Bible . What they preached is effective and sufficient . Some of the prophets who come on the scene in the latter days will claim to be appointed by Jesus to reveal His true nature to everyone , they will resort to word games and half truths and thus divert sincere people from the Bible’s teaching over to including what they have revealed about Him . After all , they claim the Bible is by “dead” prophets ; but they are the ” living” prophet . Sure sounds good at first glance . The apostle John’s timeless counsel — 1 Jn 4:1 is appropriate today . Mormon leaders have failed that test .
The Mormon people who may not know about many of the egregious teachings their leaders have introduced , but ignorance is no excuse because this issue of false prophets and their counterfeit Jesus’ ( 2 Cor 11:4 ) and gospels ( Gal 1:8 ) is very much a very real danger today . Following false prophets is spiritually dangerous and will eventually lead to tragedy . This has always been true — Isa 9:16 .
It hurts our hearts to see sincere , decent , people not make time to test their prophets . We pray for the Mormon people to see the danger and walk away from Mormonism . It will be very difficult but God will help .
I had a young Mormon acquaintance post a touching and rather long comment about Jesus on his facebook page on Good Friday. OK, I couldn’t resist commenting back. I’d guess most of his facebook friends are other Mormons. Well it ended up being facebook comment ping pong with him finally saying something like “The DNA evidence………………”. Fill-in-the-blanks; he was convinced the DNA evidence supports the BoM.
Yes the conversation had meandered away from being strictly about Jesus and to other related topics like the veracity of the Bible. My point to him was a version of “Who Do You Trust” (for those of you who remember the early 60s game show hosted by Johnny Carson. I linked my young Mormon friend to an article from a non-religious source, talking about recent evidence that the ancestors of the American Indians came from Asia and not the Middle East.
He hasn’t posted for a couple of days so I guess he’s going to have to process this and come up with a creative LDS spin.
But this does get to the serious topic of who people trust regarding their revelation of who Jesus is. Mormons twist themselves into pretzels attempting to make something sound Christian when the meaning is far from that what they are conveying with their words. Knowing who Jesus is is the most critical of all topics. I recently had a Muslim friend ask me why Christians pray to Jesus. It gave me an opportunity to give a sort of Cliff Notes version of Jesus as God incarnate not just a prophet as Muslims believe.
Can a person have eternal life by believing that Jesus is a prophet? Can a person have eternal life believing that Jesus is the spirit offspring of the Mormon “Heavenly Father” and one of his many wives who live on or near the planet Kolob? Another Jesus and another gospel do not add up to eternal life.
To give you an idea of what we are up against when witnessing to faithful LDS members, here’s a comment from someone posted in the comments section of a presentation by Lee Baker.
“Dear Mr. Baker….I feel for you and your wife, you have focused so much on telling other people what they are doing wrong that you have left your own family in the ashes. Be it Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Hindu or whatever your faith may be, we may all be surprised what god has in store for us when we get to the other side. So, until then Brother Baker ….I would recommend that you focus on keeping your own family together and unified. Your mission to focus on convincing Mormons that they are wrong, is a cancer in your soul. No one man, one church, one religion has a corner on the truth. If you want to be Christ like, then be Christ like…spewing your negative message is not Christ like in the least. I feel for you….you truly have missed the reason that we are here in this life. You are so consumed in your message that you have ironically missed the mark on what a good Christian would act like or behave like…..I feel for you… you must have a huge hole within you that no amount of spirituality would ever fill. ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nKtVynh5-M
The comment first of all made me wonder if the guy actually listened to Lee Baker’s presentation. I’ve watched several videos where Lee Baker is either the presenter or one of the presenters and I’m always impressed thinking that it would be difficult for a Mormon not to start questioning the Mormon religion. But then I remember the spiritual battle we are in.
So I’m back to “Who is Jesus?” Would it do any good to have a Mormon pray to receive Christ if they thought He was the Jesus that the Mormons promote? How much of an understanding of who Jesus is and what He did for us does someone have to have in order to be trusting Him for their salvation? Remember when Paul ran into some “believers” in Corinth and all they knew was John’s baptism? It says that Paul explained things to them more thoroughly.
Yes it is a long and winding road (Beatles reference) for Mormons to come to Christ. But the Lord God is faithful. I’m sure the person commenting that I referred to has had some seeds planted in his spirit. That’s our job after all; to plant seeds.
So how much theology does a person need to know and understand to be saved? In Mormonism, a person is saved i.e. becomes a god, based on their ability to follow the LDS system. This would include clean living i.e. living a moral and upright life in addition to being able to check-off all of the boxes delineating the various tasks of the LDS program. That’s how the LDS religion works with it’s two levels of salvation. According to LDS lore, even those of us who are Christians get a pretty good outcome, although we aren’t going to become gods. Oh, that’s unless some faithful LDS member does the work for us after we die.
So in Christian speak, can a faithful LDS person be saved i.e. gain eternal life doing the LDS program? Do they have to know who the Biblical Jesus is and place their trust in Him in order to gain eternal life? Will God say, “Look, I know you had good intentions Mr. LDS so I’ll let it slide that you didn’t get it right about Me and my Son Jesus Christ and my plan for salvation?”
Here’s what I think. The Bible warns us about false Christ’s and false prophets. Jesus was quite explicit about it. If someone can be saved by placing their faith in their own efforts to become a god, not acknowledge who God is, who Jesus is then that opens up all sorts of possibilities.
The comment I posted above that appeared on Lee Baker’s video, shows a certain erroneous thought and belief system by what I conclude was an LDS (poster). He didn’t want to hear about the differences in the Mormon program as it relates to Christianity and Mormon history. He did get one thing right: “Be it Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Hindu or whatever your faith may be, we may all be surprised what god has in store for us when we get to the other side.” That’s not a chance I’d be willing to take!
Thanks, history, I appreciate your thoughts on my question. I wonder how widespread the reluctance is within Mormonism…
It’s needs to said that whenever this issue comes up some Mormons will claim we are being too unloving or ignorant etc . , but what is important to remember is that Mormon leaders have taught something similar themselves . So it’s like the pot calling the kettle black .
Mormon leaders know the truth of what Paul was concerned about in 2 Cor 11: 4 namely that a false concept of Jesus Christ is false doctrine and it effectively will render people who embrace it in danger because they will then believe in ” another ” Jesus , not the true one . Same for God , and same for the gospel of salvation — Gal 1:8 ; 4:8 . Paul talked about maintaining ” sound doctrine ”
not follow those who swerve into doctrinal error — and Paul’s warning in 2Tim 4:3,4 is still a very relevant scripture to evaluate latter days prophets with , like Mormon prophets .
” another Jesus ? ” What about worshiping “fake Christ’s ” ? Or a ” false God ?” Sound too harsh , unloving ? Yet this is EXACTLY what Mormon leaders have said about others faith :
” We cannot obtain salvation and eternal life by worshiping FAKE Christs ….” [ Elder Bernard Brockbank — Ensign May 1977 ]
Another Mormon leader proclaimed :
” True religion is found only where men worship the true and living God . False religion always results from the worship of false gods…. There is no salvation in worshiping false gods…”
One such case of false worshipers are those who don’t subscribe to the Mormon doctrine that God is an exalted man , believing instead that He is only a spirit . ( that’s traditional Christianity ! ) .
[ Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie in LDS Conference sermon — see Ensign Nov 1980 ] .
So according to Mormon leadership we are engaging in FALSE WORSHIP because we worship a
FAKE CHRIST , and a FALSE GOD .
This is good to use to remind those Mormons who resort to saying that it is wrong or unkind for us to say that Mormonism teaches a different Jesus , ” another Jesus ” – 2 Cor 11:4 .
A couple of more examples of what Mormon leaders have taught about Jesus that identifies them as latter days imitation prophets/apostles :
” We always pray to our Father in heaven , and to Him alone …. We do not pray to the Savior or to anyone else . ” [ Church manual : Missionary Preparation Student Manual , Chapter 5 ] .
The New Testament teaches that a personal relationship with Jesus is available to all who come to Him directly and ask for forgiveness and to be saved — Matt 11:28 ; Lk 19:10 . This relationship is intimate and consists of daily interaction with Jesus , as we get to praise and worship Him !
This is the Father’s arrangement and it pleases Him to have it so . Prayer to Jesus therefore is a main feature of the Christian life . We also commune with the Father , and do so in Jesus’ name .
Personal daily fellowship with the Father and Son — 1 Cor 1:9 .
Another disturbing belief in Mormonism that identifies it as a man made religion is that according to Mormon leaders Jesus appointed them and is supervising the preaching work . He supposedly restored His church and gospel of salvation through Joseph Smith because shortly after the deaths of His apostles a complete/ universal apostasy of His church and from the gospel His apostles preached happened . Christianity died off , became extinct . The gospel of salvation was altered , corrupted by men who mixed in their own man made teachings to it , thus rendering it “another gospel ” and unable to save anyone who believed it . Salvation was not available for 1700 years until Joseph Smith arrived on the scene. That is the story that Mormon leaders want everyone to believe because it’s the problem that Jesus appointed them in these latter days to remedy through His supervison .
The true Jesus would never have said such a lie about His church and the gospel of salvation He directed His apostles to preach –Rom 1:16 . Salvation never became unavailable for 1700 years , it has always been available when anyone read the scriptures or heard them preached because God preserved that truth down through the centuries for us today to know . Jn 17: 17-20 ; 20:30,31.
So these are two more reasons why Mormonism is not the answer for anyone seeking the truth about Jesus or salvation . It may be a good place where morals are stressed , but when it comes to salvation it misses the mark . The Mormon people deserve to know who Jesus really is so that they can turn to Him alone for salvation . Only the true Jesus has the ability / authority to save all who come to Him in faith , good counterfeits can’t . Heb 7:25 .
If I remember right, didn’t Jesus say that He would tell certain ones that they should depart from Him because He never knew them? Prior to that He gives an example of people who would have claimed to have done all sorts of things in His name. What a response Jesus gave to the claims.
So if people go way outside of the box regarding who Jesus is, do they know Him? I would say not. I don’t think Jesus is just talking about people who appropriate His name but don’t follow His commands.
Mormons believe that their behavior is paramount in their quest for achieving their definition of eternal life. That would be, residing in the Celestial Kingdom as a god. To them, Jesus is not God incarnate. I don’t know but I’m thinking that’s a disqualifier to believe that you can become “a god” as Jesus is “a god”.
There’s nothing Biblical about this. In fact it isn’t even in the BoM. So these LDS folks are depending on a bunch of guys they identify as prophets to tell them things that aren’t in either of these two books. I’d say, bad move!
I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth mentioning again. As we consider all these unusual doctrines introduced by Joseph Smith, let’s consider that he also introduced polygamy with 14-year-old girls and the wives of other men, and then introduced a completely false scripture — especially by LDS standards — to deceive members of his church and the public into believing that polygamy didn’t exist.
(“Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.” 1835 edition of the Doctrine & Covenants, Section 101 (also in the 1844 edition as Section 109); deleted from the Doctrine & Covenants by the Church in 1876 because people were starting to read the Doctrine & Covenants; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_and_Covenants )
Why is this so relevant today? Because if Joseph Smith was so quick to issue a documented false “scripture” about polygamy, giving him the benefit of a doubt, how can we be sure he didn’t fabricate his other scriptures and doctrines, or at least some of them? We can’t.
historybuff,
I appreciate your contributions here , and I know that you are still trying to figure out some doctrines of traditional Christianity . I wonder if you could answer a question I have ? When you were a practicing Mormon did you pray to Jesus ? Was direct prayer to Him a part of your life as a
Mormon ? If you don’t want to answer that question now that’s fine . Thanks .
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Mike R —
As Mormons we were directed — and still are — to pray only to God the Father (Elohim) “in the name of” Jesus (as some sort of symbolic show of respect?). We were specifically forbidden to pray to Jesus or to our Mother in Heaven.
We were also forbidden to have a personal relationship with Jesus, probably because that would have made us feel too much of a kinship with traditional Christians. Having a personal relationship with Christ was condemned by Church leaders, with Elder Bruce R. McConkie at the vanguard of the movement.
http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/mormrel.htm
This is now changed for some reason. Mormon leaders now recommend we develop a personal relationship with Jesus (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/10/a-personal-relationship-with-the-savior?lang=eng), although we are still instructed not to pray to Him. Why the change? I don’t know. Maybe Mormon leaders don’t consider evangelical Christians to be a threat anymore. Or maybe Mormon leaders decided the policy was doing more harm than good.
Regardless, it is still the rule that we are to pray only to the Father, in the name of the Son.
Mike R —
P.S. If you check the time periods noted in the cited material, you’ll notice that Mormon leaders were counseling us to develop and to not develop a relationship with Jesus at roughly the same time. This was a genuine debate between Church leaders at the time (1973 to 1988), and it seems that the pro-relationship advocates won. https://scripturalteachings.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/developing-a-personal-relationship-with-jesus-christ/
Kind of rare to see uptight, “correlated” Mormon leaders publicly disagreeing on a point like that.
historybuff,
Thanks for the reply to my question . What you said confirmed my suspicions about Mormons and how they use similar terms as Christians do , i.e. ” personal relationship ” ” Come unto Me ” etc and yet they have their own meaning of those terms . It appears that for Mormons those terms mean following Christ as exemplar , living for Him , doing the things He mentions in His word , rather than actually praying directly to Him as the quote from the Church Manual I cited above clearly stated .
If as you say Mormon leaders have not been consistent with teaching LDS on this issue , then that alone is a huge red flag as to why anyone would want to embrace Mormonism .