My wife and I recently moved into a neighborhood where several Mormon
families live. I really like Mormon people, and you should too. They are some
of the most friendly and sincere folks you’ll come across.
However, engaging in dialogues with them about Jesus can be a little
tricky. You see, Mormons talk just like Christians. They use the same Christianese
words and phrases as we do, and quote some of the same standard Bible verses
that we have memorized. But although they may be using similar words, they have different definitions for those words.
For instance, according to Mormons, “Heavenly Father” (also known as Elohim) used to be a physical man like
J. J. Watt. He died a physical death and was exalted to godhood where he had
endless celestial sex with his many spiritual wives and produced countless
spiritual offspring.
You will hear Mormons say that the only way to salvation is through
Jesus Christ. They also believe it is by grace through faith we are saved.
However, their own prophets say that we are saved by grace… after all we can
do.
To Mormons, Elohim (one of the
Hebrew words for God) is just one of a plethora of actual gods, and though he
is the only god they worship, he is neither the first nor the last actual god. Elohim’s first created spiritual offspring
was Jesus, and one of his next was Lucifer, thus making Jesus and Lucifer
brothers.
I could
go on an on about their doctrine, but you’re probably wondering who came up with
this belief system.
Joseph Smith founded the Mormon faith in the 1820s. He believed that Elohim manifested himself in a vision,
telling Joseph to not join any of the standard churches. According to Smith, Elohim said that all of the Christian denominations
had fallen from the path, their creeds were an abomination, and their
professors (the Christians) were all corrupt. Also, the Bible was missing many
plain and precious things.
If one is to trust Joseph Smith, God restored both His true revelation of
the gospel and the correct translation and interpretation of the Scriptures in
the 1800s. Thus, if we are to believe Joseph Smith, God cannot preserve His own
Scriptures, Jesus’ words did pass away, and the faith once and for all time
delivered to the Church by the apostles under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit was corrupted in its infant stages.
But are
those beliefs accurate? Did the Church mutilate the gospel immediately after
receiving it from the Apostles?
First, we have thousands of Greek New Testament manuscripts from the
first few centuries. Our modern word-for-word translations are not translated
from earlier English translations or even Latin translations. Our modern
word-for-word Bibles (Like the NASB and ESV) are translated directly from those
earliest Greek manuscripts. You can absolutely trust that these types of Bibles
are giving you the words that the Holy Spirit originally breathed out.
However, some may argue that the proper interpretations of the
Scriptures became corrupted. This is where the earliest Christian writings
particularly display their value. For instance, Polycarp was the Bishop of
Smyrna in the early 2nd century, and a personal disciple of John the
Apostle. His testimony, therefore, provides us with a unique window into the
teaching and legacy of the Apostles.
So, what
does Polycarp have to say about the faith handed down to him from the Apostles?
If we entreat the Lord to forgive us, we ought also to forgive
others; for
we are before the eyes of our Lord and God, and “we must all appear at the judgment-seat
of Christ.” … Let us then serve Him in fear, and with all reverence, even as He
Himself has commanded us, and as the apostles who preached the Gospel unto us,
and the prophets who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Lord [have alike
taught us]. … Wherefore,
forsaking the vanity of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the
word which has been handed down to us from the beginning. … Let us then
continually persevere in our hope, and the earnest of our righteousness, which
is Jesus Christ, “who bore our sins in His own body on the tree,” “who did no
sin, neither was guile found in His mouth,” but endured all things for us, that we
might live in Him. Let us then be imitators of His patience; and if we suffer for His
name’s sake, let us glorify Him. For He has set us this example in Himself,
and we have believed that such is the case. – Polycarp
125CE, ANF Volume 1, p. 60-61 [CD-ROM]
According to Polycarp, the faith that was handed down to the
Church once for all by the Apostles was first and foremost to make the Lord God
Jesus Christ our beginning and end point. We start with Him and we end with
Him. He is our righteous example. No one else.
Mormons may say they are
Christians, but they clearly don’t worship the same heavenly Father as we do.
They may say believe the gospel, but they obviously have a different
understanding of salvation. They say they believe in Jesus, but they don’t
believe He is the one true God. They are often very good people, but Joseph
Smith, not Jesus, is their example.
What about you? Is
the Lord God Jesus Christ honestly your example for righteous living? Do you
believe in the faith once delivered?