Joseph Smith Jr. December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844
Despite its deceptive attempt to pass as a Christian institution, the truth is that Mormon theology is contrary to historic Christian faith on every major point of orthodoxy. This is not surprising since Smith insisted that all contemporary churches had “turned aside from the gospel.” He and he alone would be given the truth, and all who joined him would become members of the true church. So, what is the truth according to Mormon theology.
One place to begin, is to realize Mormonism teaches that billions of planets throughout the universe are ruled by countless gods who are human, much like us. Long ago, on an unnamed planet near an unnamed star, an unnamed god, and one of his spirit wives, conceived a child named Elohim. Later, Elohim was born to human parents who gave him a physical body.
After living a virtuous life, in death Elohim was raised to eternal life, and elevated to the status of a god, as his father before him.
Mormons believe that Elohim is their heavenly father. He lives with his many wives on a planet near a mysterious star called Kolob. He, and his many wives enjoy celestial sex, and produce billions of spiritual children.
To determine the destiny of those created, the leader of the Mormon gods once called a great council where some important decisions were made. It was decided to create planet earth, where the spirit children would be sent to take on mortal bodies and learn good from evil.
At this meeting were two of Elohim’s elder sons, Lucifer and Jesus.
The Mormon Lucifer, a brother of Jesus, stood and offered to be the savior of the new world. He suggested that people be compelled to believe and be saved. In this way, he would receive glory for himself.
Opposing this idea, the Mormon Jesus, suggested that people be given free will in order to be saved, thereby making a person the ultimate determiner of their own destiny.
The plan of Jesus was accepted. It was agreed that He would be the One to offer himself as the Savior of the world.
Lucifer was outraged, and persuaded one third of the other celestial beings destined to earth, to revolt. In this way Lucifer became Satan, and his followers became demons. In the new world, they would be denied a body of flesh and bones, and be forced to wander.
A third class of spiritual beings, were those who remained neutral, and did not choose sides between Jesus and Lucifer. These were cursed with a mark. Their bodies would be black.
In contrast, those who fought against Lucifer were to be born with white skins on planet earth. They would be “white and delightsome”.
Early Mormon prophets taught that two of the gods came to earth as Adam and Eve to start the human race.
The centuries passed. One day Elohim made a journey to earth from the star base Kolob. He knocked on the door of a young Jewish maiden. His purpose was to impregnate the virgin Mary in order to provide Jesus with a physical body. Mary submitted to Elohim, her man-god, and Jesus was born.
“Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh …” (First Presidency and Council of the Twelve, 1916, God the Father, compiled by Gordon Allred, pg.150).
“The birth of the Savior 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 are of our fathers” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:115).
After Jesus grew to be an adult, he took at least three wives. Jesus married Martha, her sister Mary, and Mary Magdalen, who bore him many children. Joseph Smith claimed to be a direct descendent of Jesus.
After his death and resurrection, Jesus came to America to preach the gospel to the inhabitants who were the lost tribes of Israel, but called Indians. In this way, the Jesus of the Mormons established his church in America as he had in Palestine.
The message of Jesus was not fully received by all the Indians. There was civil war. Great battles were fought. By the year 421 AD, the dark-skinned Israel Indians, known as the Lamanites, had defeated the white skin Nephites.
The record of the Nephites was written on golden plates, and buried in the hill Cumorah by Moroni, the last living Nephite.
On September 22, 1823, Joseph Smith, Jr. claimed to have discovered these same plates, in a stone box, telling the story of the Lamanites and the Nephites. According to Smith, he had been directed by the angel Moroni to a hill, near his home in Manchester, New York. Some alleged witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds. The plates were gold in color, and composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with three, D-shaped rings.
Smith said the angel Moroni did not allow him to take the plates home with him to show to the world, but instructed him to return the next year. Four years later, in September, 1827, on his fourth attempt, Smith was able to retrieve the plates.
As the Mormon story continues, Smith placed an object wrapped in cloth in a box. He allowed others to lift the box, but said the angel had instructed him not to let anyone see the plates until they had been translated from their original “Reformed Egyptian” language.
The only eyewitnesses to the process, Martin Harris, said Smith translated the plates, not by looking at them, but by looking at a seer stone in the bottom of his hat. The golden tables were not present during the translation. Smith published the spurious translation in 1830 as the Book of Mormon. Later, 11 other men swore under oath they too had seen the plates.
What happened to the original golden plates? Smith said that he returned them to the angel Moroni so they could never be examined. The account of the golden plates is taken by most Mormons by faith, though some are skeptical. It is a “troublesome item.”
“The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith’s history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written.” Bushman (2005, p. 58).
Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (Harper San Francisco, 1999) begin a chapter called “The Gold Bible” (pp. 259–77) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen:
‘Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?’ Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons.” (at p. 259).
With the Book of Mormon completed, Smith was able to proceed to tell others that he had been commissioned to organize a new church for all of Christianity was corrupt and wrong. He was to establish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All Christian creeds were an abomination.
His major works, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, would set forth the truth.
According to Mormon theology, by many good works, select man may become a god and enjoy eternal celestial sex with multiple wives. Therefore, Mormons must not drink coffee, tea, or other caffeine products. They must not go to movies beyond a G, or PG rating. They must not drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco products. They must wear special (magical) undergarments as a reminder of purity and covenant vows. They must learn secret temple rituals and handshakes. They can be baptized for themselves, and the dead. They must pay a full tithe to the Mormon Church. They must attend all meetings. They must not associate with apostate members. They should not read anti-Mormon literature. In this way certain Mormon men hope to prove their worthiness to be elevated as a god.
Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon Jesus, and Elohim, will form a tribunal for this determination. Those men sealed in a Mormon temple ceremony expect to become polygamous gods, rule over a kingdom, and other planets, while procreating new families for all eternity. Mormon males found unworthy, risk being castrated upon their entrance into heaven.
Joseph Smith is believed to be worthy to judge others, because, he died as a martyr, shed his blood for others, and accomplished more than Jesus so that others may also become gods (from, The Secret World of Mormonism).
