LDS
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) (Mormons) -[ the LDS church get 100% on marks of a Cult ]
Started on April 6, 1830 in New York, by Joseph Smith. Soon moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then Missouri and then Illinois, as a result of the intense opposition.
Smith published the Book of Mormon, claimed to be a history native Americans, that Smith said he had translated from golden plates received from an angel.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
Mormons intense opposition and persecution came about due to:
Practice of polygamy (Smith's revelation and 28 Wives, see D&C 132).
Ill-fated banking in Kirtland - bankrupted illegal bank.
Lack of freedom of speech.
Smith’s revelations that his Church would inherits other's lands (you do not threaten to take settlers' land and homestead.)
Aberrant theology
Theocracy, Church run government.
Smith Martyrdom: On July 12, 1843, Smith received a revelation allowing for polygamy as a way to godhood. Disillusioned converts started the Nauvoo Expositor newspaper in protest. The brothers of Smith burned down the Nauvoo Expositor office. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were placed in jail and on June 27, 1844, they were murdered when a mob stormed the jail. Joseph Smith, with a smuggled pistol, was able to shoot three shots, killing two attackers.
Brigham Young:
Following the assassination of Joseph Smith the majority of Mormons accepted the leadership of Brigham Young. A minority rallied around Joseph's legal wife and family to form the LDS Reorganized Church.
Under the leadership of Young the Mormons left Nauvoo Illinois in 1847 and trekked westward to Utah. In Utah, Brigham Young ruled the Mormon Church for more than 30 years and laid the foundation of its present foundation.
Young was a polygamist, marrying a total of 55 wives.
There were also many splinter groups formed. That did not follow B. Young.
Mormonism Foundation:
Smith’s golden plates “translated” in 1830 to The Book of Mormon.
Smith's claims seeing Jesus and God the Father (with a body)
Claims to be the ONLY true Church, the restored church.
Claims to have continuing revelations from God to prophets. (Doctrine and Covenants - The Pearl of Great Price. )
Temple work:
Proxy baptism and marriages for dead
Living Celestial marriages for future Godhood
Ceremonies to become gods of their own plants (endowments)
Practice of polygamy (Officially ended in 1890)
Missionary Work
Priesthood for all men
Three heavens (referred to as "degrees of glory”)
The Book of Mormon:
LDS claim The Book of Mormon is a history of the American people (Nephits and Lamanites, lost Jewish tribes), and a second testament of Jesus Christ.
Facts: Total hoax and fraud. No facts back up claims. Not one Book of Mormon item has been found. No Book of Mormon: city, mountain, map, coin, leader, people group, or reformed Egyptian characters. States American people are cursed Jews! Claims sin is connected to skin color (no blacks in Church till 1978)
No: Christian, Hebrew, or Egyptian archaeological finding in the Americas.
Has many out-of-place things in the early Americas: The wheel, chariots, wheat, barley, oats, rice, iron, steel, glass, silk, a compass, horses, pigs, donkeys, chickens, and honey bees.
Does not teach most LDS Doctrines.
Mormonism Distinctive Doctrines: Many found in added book: Doctrine and Covenants, D&C 132 polygamy to become a god.
Progress to godhood. (exaltation) man can become a god, god was once a man.
Jesus and God the Father became "gods”
Pre-mortal life, you are from God the Father and mother pregnancy
Denial of Trinity and Salvation by Jesus’ work on Cross (atonement is in the garden not cross, this is found no where in the Bible)
A universe that is filled with planets, each with gods
Changing God and doctrines
No coffee, tea, smoking and alcohol (Salvation linked to food)
Works for the Dead, contacting the dead is good thing.
Salvation by works, by their rules.
(Current membership ~ 17 Million)
Genealogical Research and Works for the Dead:
About 80% of the activity in a LDS temple is on behave of the dead.
For the dead by proxy: baptized for the dead, marriages, rites: sealing and endowments.
LDS Family History Library is the largest genealogical library.
1 Corinthians 15:29-30: Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? (emphasis added) Paul uses the world they and we, to note that those doing baptized for the dead are not part of his ministry, the Christian Church.
1 Timothy 1:3-4: As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God's work--which is by faith.
LDS Comparison:
Bible: - Mormonism (LDS):
Bible: One God, no others anywhere Many gods, one for this world - LDS: God is Unchanging God is Progressive
Bible: God is Spirit God is flesh and bone - LDS: God was not a man God was once a man
Bible: No man can see God - LDS: J. Smith saw God the father
Bible: Jesus is God - LDS: Jesus and Lucifer are brothers
Bible: The Word-gospel stands forever - LDS: Gospel lost from earth & restored
Bible: Gospel has been declared - LDS: God still revealing many new truths
Bible: Jesus can forgive all Sins - LDS: Some sins cannot be forgiven
Bible: Atonement is at the Cross of Jesus - LDS: Atonement is at the garden.
Bible: True Church is all believers - LDS: True Church is the LDS Church
No marriage in heaven - LDS: Marriage(s) needed to become gods
Bible: Men are sinless in Heaven - LDS: Men (LDS) become gods
Bible: Saved by Grace thru faith in Jesus - LDS: Saved by faith and LDS works
Bible: Food not part of salvation - LDS: Food list need for salvation
Bible: Wrong to contact dead - LDS: Contact dead is a blessing
Bible: Jesus always has existed, God in flesh - LDS: Jesus created
Mormons Are Nice People - Why Attack Them?
One of the most frequent questions: Why are you picking on them? Mormons make good neighbors, citizens, friends and co-workers.
But it is as if their house is on fire and we must warn them and others. Mormons (and non Mormons) have the right to their own belief system, but we should take issue with any organization that:
Claims to be the only true church, when it isn't; (all other Church are false (lies: have some truth)
Claims to be a Christian organization, when it isn't;
Attacks Christian beliefs, Churches and Believers in Grace from the Cross; from its start, it is its foundation..
Proselytize Christians from Christian Churches.
Mormonism from its start, to today attacks the doctrines of Biblical Christianity. The Pearl of Great Price, says all other churches are wrong (abomination) and professors of Christian creeds are corrupt.
The Mormon teaching program is not honest. If the Mormon missionaries clearly taught the doctrines just outlined, LDS cult education would not be needed. Mormons are counterfeit Christians, LDS truth would not win converts to them.
No one having joined can freely leave. (excommunication or trial is held). "Us against the world attitude".
Coercion: Systematic techniques to alter beliefs and behaviors. (many include blackmail)
See What is a cult page; Mormonism gets a 100% on all the marks of a cult.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) (Mormons) have a "us against the world" mindset and claim they are being persecuted, even when they are not. Theyt claim that anyone who points out their cult behavior is "persecuting" them. But no one who has joined can freely leave. The practices include isolation: Separation from family, friends, and mainstream society, also shunning and social ostracism for anyone who departs the group. They hold with or without the departing member there, excommunication and a trial. FAMILIES are destroyed by the Mormon Church. The Mormon Church is also an occult; in their work to "save" dead people, many make contact and claim to have talked to dead people. This is encouraged and called a "blessing" to talk to the dead. Research on suicide rates within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) shows Utah, with a large LDS population, has a high overall suicide rate. We know aLDS members who killed themself, with a note stating that they could not live up to the Mormon Church's demand to "be perfect".
The Mormon Church is a closed group with no fellowship; they claim to be the ONLY true Church and all others are false (for decades they had a play with Satan (Lucifer), paying Christian pastors). The Mormon Church uses coercion: Systematic techniques to pressure members to obey them (we have personally seen blackmail and extortion used). Salvation by work, as noted, no one can live up to the demands to be perfect; those who take these demands seriously can go into depression, which can even lead to suicide. Utah, a state with a high concentration of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) members, ranked very high in the U.S. for antidepressant use.
Mormon Church missions are not honest with outsiders about the teachings of the Mormon Church. They say one thing in public, another in private. They do not tell them that they talk to the goals and purposes of the Mormon Church: Only after being in the Church for some time do you learn: The goal is to become a "god" of your own planet, called the doctrine of Exaltation. Most of the work in the LDS temple is to s"save" and talk to dead people. Becoming a "savior on Mount Zion" in the LDS faith involves performing vicarious temple ordinances—such as baptism, endowment rites, wedding rites, and sealing—for deceased ancestors. They hide the LDS underwear," officially known as
temple garments, are undergarments worn by adult members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have made special promises in temples. They have Masonic origins with Masonic marks on them. The promises come with signs of being killed for talking about it. Faithful members, men and women, are told to wear them "day and night" throughout their lives. Lot of money given to the Church is not used for Church use. In February 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints $5 million total to settle charges. The settlement stems from using 13 shell companies to hide a $32 billion stock portfolio from 1997–2019, violating SEC filing requirements. The Mormon Church has been doing this for years, more than what is in this settlement. The good news is that the light that was shed on the leadership of the Mormon Church and its corrupt use of money caused many who had doubts about the Mormon Church to depart. The Mormon Church leadership's main goal is power, control, and greed (it has always been this way).