Mormonism (Part 1)

Part 1:

MORMONISM:
THE WORD & WISDOM OF MAN

-LDS BEGINNINGS AND

THE MORMON "STANDARD WORKS"-

Introduction
1. Col. 2:8 - Warning which well applies to Mormonism - Chart 1c.

2. Chart 23 - Our intent: To investigate & fairly represent LDS faith, & expose its errors in the light of the Bible, the inspired word of God.
a. Compare LDS faith with the Bible - Chart 25.
b. Testing doctrine - Chart 1b.
c. LDS view of the Bible - Chart 10.
d. We will find: Bible doctrine is NOT Mormon doctrine, and Mormon doctrine is NOT Bible doctrine -- They are NOT one and the same!
e. "No Mormon truly believes the Bible, and a true Bible believer cannot be a Mormon!"

3. Brief historical overview, introduce you to the LDS standard works, concept of restoration, doctrinal difficulties; trying to teach Mormons.

I. JOSEPH SMITH, JR. (The history of Mormonism is the history of one man.)
A. No Middle Ground - Chart 16; Chart 24; Chart 17.
B. The Story Of Joseph Smith (1805-1844).

"You don't know me; you never knew my heart. No man knows my history. I cannot tell it: I shall never undertake it. I don't blame any one for not believing my history. If I had not experienced what I have, I would not have believed it myself." (History of the Church, VI:317).

"There are few men, however, who have written so much and told so little about themselves." (No Man Knows My History, Fawn Brodie, preface, vii)

    1. Age 10 - Moved to Palmyra, NY; At 14 moved to Manchester, NY (same county).
    2. 1820 - THE FIRST VISION (J.S. Hist. 1:10-12, 14, 17-20a) - Claimed vision seeing the Father & the Son.
       a. "This vision was the most important event that had taken place in all world history from the day of Christ's ministry to the glorious hour when it occurred." (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 285 (1966 ed.).
      b. "This vision marked the beginning of 'Mormonism.' In that hour, this boy made the greatest religious discovery since the first era of Christianity. He discovered the power of faith, the key to the knowledge of God. He also learned the simple truth that God is an actual, tangible person, in whose image man is fashioned." (Liahona: The Elder's Journal, 8:20:1918)
    3. Sept. 21, 1823 (17 yrs. old) - Angel Moroni "appeared" to Smith 3 times one night in his bedroom. Told of gold plates with "the fulness of the everlasting gospel" (J.S.Hist. 1:34), along w/ Breastplate & Urim & Thummim. Told where plates were, but not allowed to take them.
    4. Next day, Moroni let him see the gold plates (buried in the Hill Cumorah), but not allowed to touch them. For next 3 years, on Sept. 22, Smith went to the place, Moroni would appear & teach him of things to come.

    5. Sept. 22, 1827 - Four years later, at age 21, allowed to take the plates, etc. Began his work of "translation."
6. 1830 - Book of Mormon was published.
7. April 6, 1830 - "Church of Christ" / "Church of the Latter-day Saints" was organized at the home of Peter Whitmer in Fayette, NY (6 men).
8. Smith & his followers went from NY to Kirtland, Ohio, to Far West, MO, to Nauvoo, IL over the next 14 years.
9. June 27, 1844 - Mob killed him in the Carthage, IL jail.
"The martyrdom gave to the story of Joseph Smith the imperishable force of tragedy. What was already a legend it converted into an epic. The martyrdom was a dramatic symbol that God had placed his seal upon the testimony of His prophet. And it was the legend of Joseph Smith, from which all evidence of deception, ambition, and financial and marital excesses were gradually obliterated, that became the great cohesive force within the church." (Brodie, 397)
10. Struggle for control: Lineage or apostles?
11. Reorganized Church (RLDS; currently approx. 250,000 members); LDS (B. Young); currently over 10 million members.
12. October 6, 1890 - The Manifesto officially ending polygamy.
13. June 8, 1978 - Blacks (all races) included into the Melchizedek priesthood.
C. The Boast Of Joseph Smith, Jr. -Chart 40-
    1. Why accept him rather than any other man who has claimed visions! (Mohammed)
    2. 2 Cor. 11:13-15 - False apostles, deceitful workers, ministers of Satan.

II. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MORMONISM.
A. Gospel Lost By Apostasy - Needed Restoring.

"Since the gospel was first given to Adam, each time it was thereafter lost by apostasy and then revealed to man again has been a restoration of the gospel. Our Lord in his personal ministry, for instance, restored the original gospel, the same plan of salvation which he had revealed to Adam in the beginning. But when men in this day speak of the restoration of the gospel, they mean the final great restoration which has now taken place as part of the restoration of all things. This dispensation is the age of restoration to which all the ancient prophets look forward." (Mormon Doctrine, McConkie, 634-635).

B. Gospel Never Preached To Adam! - Eph. 3:3-5 (Rom. 16:25-26).

C. Crucial Mistake: Mormonism says "the faith fell away." But the Bible says some would fall away from the faith! (1 Tim. 4:1)
1. Whenever apostasy occurs, man must be restored to truth! Jno. 8:32
    2. Gospel ("the faith") is not lost when people fall away, the people are! (Gal. 5:4)
    3. Gospel once for all delivered - Jude 3.

III. DOCTRINES OF MORMONISM. (Chart 2 - Gal. 1:8-9).
A. LDS View Of Scripture.
    1. Mormonism's "Standard Works."
      a. Book of Mormon ("Another Testament Of Jesus Christ") [Old, new, now "another"].
        (1) "The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel." (Book of Mormon, Introduction, 1981 ed.)
        (2) Chart 13 - Most correct book / No salvation without it.
     (3) Chart 14 - Translated by gift & power of God. (1830 ed.: J. Smith, Jr. the "Author & Proprietor").
        (4) Chart 15 - 3,913 changes in Book of Mormon.

(5) Chart 19 - Note these doctrinal changes in the Book of Mormon.

    b. Doctrine & Covenants - Collection of "modern-day" revelations, 1st publ., 1835.
    c. The Pearl of Great Price - Collection of significant works crucial to LDS history & theology (includes the Articles of Faith).
d. The Bible.
    2. Mormonism and the Bible as the word of God.
     a. Chart 10 - Mormonism & Bible the same doctrine.
      b. Chart 11 - Bible revered by LDS.

c. Chart 11b - Believed only as far as translated correctly.

d. Chart 12 - The Bible is good enough (Brigham Young).
3. LDS prophets & NT prophets on the nature of the word of God (Chart 2, Chart 3):

a. All truth (Jno. 16:13); LDS - Chart 5.

b. Adequate (2 Tim. 3:16-17); LDS - Chart 6.

c. Incorruptible (1 Pet. 1:22-25; 2 Jno. 2; 1 Tim. 4:1); LDS - Chart 7.

d. Once for all delivered (Jude 3); LDS - Chart 4.

e. Authoritative (Jn. 13:20; 1 Cor. 14:37); LDS - Chart 29 (Living prophet more vital than standard works).

f. Understandable (Eph. 3:3-4; Jn. 8:31-32); LDS - Chart 8.

4. We seek LDS proof of Biblical corruption. Reveals their lack of faith in the Bible & their modernistic, humanistic approach to the Bible (not verbally inspired, full of errors, etc.). Take the offensive! (Prov. 28:1) - Chart 9
5. "No Mormon truly believes the Bible, and a true Bible believer cannot be a Mormon!" (Gal. 1:8-9)

B. Continuing Revelation.
1. God has revealed, now reveals, & shall yet reveal many things - Chart 4.
2. Personal revelation - Chart 39 (Moroni 10:4-5).
3. How? Chart 39a (D&C 9:8-9a).
4. BIBLE: Jno. 16:13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3; Jude 3. (Chart 21) (Charts 22a & 22b)
5. "No Mormon truly believes the Bible, and a true Bible believer cannot be a Mormon!"

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