Thursday, December 22, 2022

Mormons don’t believe the Book of Mormon

             The Book of Mormon is NOT the word of God. It's not even an accurate word of man. It's contradictory and often unbiblical. However, as many cults and false religions do, the author(s) of the Book of Mormon copied ideas and terminology from the Bible. Evil individuals creating a perversion of God's truth in order to mislead is nothing new (see 2 Corinthians 11:14-16; Galatians 1:8). Interestingly, the so-called Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) don’t actually believe many key doctrines in the Book of Mormon.


            The introduction to the Book of Mormon states, “The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible…Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: ‘I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.’” Nevertheless, there are many things in the Book of Mormon which the Mormons reject. The following are a few examples: 
 
Though there are many false gods, there is only one true God

            The LDS church teaches that there are many Gods, and man has the potential to become a god (Doctrine and Covenants 132:20, 37; Abraham 4). However, although they don't agree on who the true God is, the Book of Mormon and the Bible teach that there is only one true God. 


Book of Mormon

  • “And Amulek said: Yea, there is a true and living God. Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God? And he answered, No… Now Zeezrom said unto the people: See that ye remember these things; for he said there is but one God...” (Alma 11:27-29, 35) (Alma 11:44: “…Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God…”)
  • “…from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off…” (Ether 2:8)


Bible

  • “…before me there was no God formedneither shall there be after me.” (Isaiah 43:10)
  • “…the LORD [Jehovah] is God [Elohim]; there is no other besides him.” (Deuteronomy 4:35)
  • “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God…'” (Isaiah 44:6)
  • See also Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 44:8; 45:5; 46:9; Psalm 86:10; Jeremiah 10:6; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Chronicles 17:20; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:4

 
The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the one true God

            The teaching that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the one true God is a fundamental and eternally important teaching of the Bible. However, the LDS Church rejects this teaching and instead teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three different gods. 


Book of Mormon 

  • …be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.” (Alma 11:44)
  • “…the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end.” (Mormon 7:7)
  • “And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.” (2 Nephi 31:21 b)
  • “…honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God.” Amen. (The Testimony of Three Witnesses)
  • See also 3 Nephi 11:27, 36; 28:10

For verses from the Bible on the Triunity of God, see the post on the Nature of God
 
God is Spirit

            The LDS Church teaches God the "...Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s…” (Doctrine & Covenants 130:22). However, the Book of Mormon and the Bible teach that the Father is a spiritual being and the Bible states that “…a spirit does not have flesh and bones…” (Luke 24:39). 


Book of Mormon

  • God is called the “Great Spirit” (Alma 18:26-28; 22:9-11). 


Bible

  • “Jesus answered and said to him, “’Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’” (Matthew 16:17)
  • “’God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’” (John 4:24)

Note: Jesus said that "'...a spirit does not have flesh and bones...’” (Luke 24:39). 


God dwelling in the hearts of the saints

The Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that God dwells in the saints. However, the LDS Church says, “…the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.” (Doctrine & Covenants 130:3)

Book of Mormon

  • “And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.” (Alma 34:36)

Bible

  • “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,” (Ephesians 3:17)


God has always been God

            The Bible and the Book of Mormon both teach that God has always been God. However, the LDS Church teaches that God worked His way up to become a God (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 345-347, 354).


Book of Mormon

  • “For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting…” (Moroni 7:22)
  • “…the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity…” (Mosiah 3:5)
  • “…the Eternal God…” (1 Nephi 12:18; 2 Nephi 9:8; 26:12; Alma 34:9; Ether 8:23)
  • “…everlasting God…” (1 Nephi 11:32; 15:15; 2 Nephi 4:35; Helaman 12:8; Moroni 10:28)
  • See also Moroni 8:18

Bible

  • “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:2)
  • See also Isaiah 40:28; Deuteronomy 33:27

God is immutable (unchanging)

            The LDS church teaches that God is progressing and changing. Again, they believe that He worked His way up to become a God (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 345-347, 354). However, the Book of Mormon and the Bible state that God is unchanging. 


Book of Mormon

  • “For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.” (Moroni 8:18)
  • “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (3 Nephi 24:6)
  • “For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing? And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles. And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth notif so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.” (Mormon 9:9-10, 19; See also 2 Nephi 2:4)


Bible

  • “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)
  • Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
  • “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” (Malachi 3:6)

 


The unbiblical teaching that Jesus is God the Father

            The Bible teaches that Jesus is God the Son, He is NOT the Father. See the Nature of God post for more on this. The LDS church teaches that Jesus is a different god than the Father. However, the Book of Mormon teaches that Jesus is God the Father. 

  • [1] And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.[2] And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Fatherbeing the Father and the Son -- [3] The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son -- [4] And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth. [5] And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Fatherbeing one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people. (Mosiah 15:1-5)  

Note: Verse 3 refers to Jesus “becoming” the Son “because of the flesh.” Verse 3 says he is the Father “because he was conceived by the power of God.” Verse 4 says “they are one God.” The word “they” is a plural pronoun.

  • “…Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.” (Ether 3:14)
  • “…Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are…he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent meFor behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world.” (Ether 4:7, 12)

Note: The Book of Mormon Jesus speaks of God the Father, then immediately says that he is the Father.

  • “And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.” (Mosiah 3:8)
  • “Now Zeezrom saith again unto him: Is the Son of God the very Eternal Father? And Amulek said unto him: Yea, he is the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;” (Alma 11:38-39; see also Helaman 14:12; 16:18; Mosiah 16:15)

            Additionally, the Book of Mormon refers to Jesus as the Eternal Father multiple times (Alma 11:38-39; Mosiah 15:1-5; 16:15). However, the Eternal Father is said to be God the Father (Moroni 4:3; 5:2; 10:4). The first Article of Faith in the LDS church states, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” Of course, the LDS Church knows that the Book of Mormon is at odds with their beliefs, therefore, among the many other changes to the Book of Mormon they have made over the years, they added the phrase “the son of” to 1 Nephi 11:21 and 1 Nephi 13:40 to change these verses so that they call Jesus “the Son of the Eternal Father” rather than “the Eternal Father.”