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!!!!!!!! Search error! If the URL ends something like .htm/ or .htm# delete the character(s) after .htm and hit return.

THE LDS RESTORATIONIST MOVEMENT,
INCLUDING THE MORMON CHURCHES

THEOLOGICAL QUESTIONS FROM CHRISTIANS

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Rejection of the LDI Restorationist theology by other faith groups:

Which is the true Christian church?

bulletThe LDS church teaches that their organization is a restoration of the original church of the apostles, as it existed in the 1st Century CE.  They believe that the original Christian movement went astray, and eventually split into many different denominations which have rejected much of Jesus' teachings and are thus heretical. All of the thousands of other Christian denominations are in error.
bulletMany other Christian faith groups teach the opposite of this belief: that most Protestant denominations follow a common Christian tradition which is traceable back to the earliest days of the church. As Jude 1:3 says, non-Mormon Christians possess "... the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." It is the Mormons who have deviated from that tradition, and are thus heretical.
bulletMany historians and liberal theologians suggest that both are wrong: that the beliefs and practices of the original Christian movement, the Jewish Christians, were quite different both from the Mormons and from other contemporary Christian denominations. By the second century CE, there were many "Christianities" in existence, all teaching different belief systems. There may have been more difference among those early forms of Christianity than there is between the LDS and Evangelical denominations.

Friction between Mormons and other other Christians has been present during the entire history of the LDS Church. There were a number of reasons why most Christians rejected the Mormon movement during the 19th century:

bulletTheir religious exclusivity, communal lifestyle, and "Mormons first and for themselves" lifestyle were criticized.
bulletJoseph Smith's visions were rejected as frauds.
bulletSome of his theological teachings about the nature of God, structure of Heaven, requirements for salvation, history of the Americas, etc. were rejected as heresy.
bulletPlural marriage in particular was considered totally unacceptable behavior.
bulletSmith's elevation of three writings to equality with the Bible was considered offensive.
bulletSmith's new translation of the Bible was viewed as heretical.
bulletSmith's political goals were viewed as threatening to his neighbors. They feared that he wanted to establish a theocracy.
bulletThe movement has been growing rapidly -- on the order of 10% per decade -- since it was founded. This is perceived by some Christian groups as a threat.

Today, even though plural marriage has been at least temporarily suspended for over a century, many of the above points of conflict continue. During the early years, opposition by other Christians was violent. Much blood was shed. Now, the battle it is a mainly war of words:

bulletThe general meetings of the United Methodist Church, and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Southern Baptist Convention have stated, in their opinion, the LDS is a denomination that is separate from the Christian religion:
bulletThe General Conference of the United Methodist Church approved a document on 2000-MAY-10: "Sacramental Faithfulness: Guidelines for Receiving People From the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)" The document says, in part, that:
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by self-definition, does not fit within the bounds of the historic, apostolic tradition of Christian faith...[Mormons'] explicitly [profess] distinction and separateness from the ecumenical community."

The document also recommends that individual Mormons first formally remove themselves from the LDS before seeking membership in the United Methodist Church. 1

bulletAccording to a pamphlet produced by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 
"...Mormonism is a new and emerging religious tradition distinct from the historic apostolic tradition of the Christian Church, of which Presbyterians are a part...Latter-day Saints understand themselves to be separate from the continuous witness to Jesus Christ, from the apostles to the present, affirmed by churches of the "catholic" tradition. Latter-day Saints and the historic churches view the canon of scriptures and interpret shared scriptures in radically different ways. They use the same words with dissimilar meanings. When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks of the Trinity, Christ's death and resurrection, and salvation, the theology and practices related to these set it apart from the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant churches."
Presbyterians do not recognize the baptism administered to Mormons. A convert must be re-baptized. Similarly Presbyterians do not allow LDS officials to administer the Lord's Supper. 2
bulletThe Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) agrees closely with LDS beliefs concerning the submissive role for women in marriage, exclusion of women from the clergy, opposition to abortion access, equal rights for gays and lesbians, physician assisted suicide, opposition to same-sex marriage, etc. But the SBC has long criticized the LDS church theologically. They regard Mormons in the same category as Jews, Muslims. etc. All are viewed as non-Christians who are destined to spend eternity in Hell, and need to be "saved" in order to attain Heaven.
bulletOn 1997-NOV-21, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter criticized SBC leaders for saying that Mormons are not Christians: They "are trying to act as the Pharisees did, who were condemned by Christ, in trying to define who can and cannot be considered an acceptable person in the eyes of God...In other words they are making judgments on behalf of God. I think that's wrong."
bulletR. Philip Roberts, director, Interfaith Witness Division for the Southern Baptist Convention was interviewed during a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Salt Lake City during 1998. One reporter asked: "Is Mormonism heresy?" The Deseret News reported:

" 'Yes,' replied Roberts, after prefacing his response with a fairly lengthy description of 'dogmatic Mormonism' which he said includes such beliefs as God having once been a mortal man and that LDS temple attendance is essential for the fullness of salvation. 'And it compromises one's salvation?' the reporter asked. 'Yes,' Roberts said." 3

bulletAccording to a report in the Deseret News, a training video prepared by Southern Baptist leaders, titled "The Mormon Puzzle," concludes that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have carefully cultivated a media image that leads people to believe they are Christian, when in fact they are not. Tom Elliff, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said:
"The Christ that the Mormons speak about is not, in our minds, identified with the Christ identified solely in the scriptures...When we (Mormons and Baptists) try to talk about a belief in Christ, we're really comparing apples with oranges. We're not talking about the same Christ. It's a different Christ [altogether]."
bulletBefore their annual meeting in Salt Lake City (1998-JUN-9 to 11), the SBC conducted a "Crossover Salt Lake City" evangelistic thrust. This involved a door-to-door witnessing campaign, covering the city. Volunteers attempted "save" as many Mormons (and other non-Evangelical Christians) as possible.
bulletReligion Today's feature story for 1998-JUL-27 listed a number of Mormon theological doctrines which they feel are incompatible with historical Christianity, including the beliefs that:
bulletGod and Jesus have bodies and are separate within the godhead.
bulletSalvation requires good works in addition to grace.
bulletOnly some male LDS Church members have the "authority to be prophetic priests and to perform ordinances necessary for salvation." This doctrine has been taught by Mormon President Gordon Hinckley, and his predecessors back to the Mormon founder Joseph Smith. 4
bulletLA Times, reporting on Governor Romney's possible 2008 bid for the presidency, wrote  that:
bullet"Pastor Ted Haggard, [at the time] president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NEA) in Colorado Springs, CO said:
" 'We evangelicals view Mormons as a Christian cult group. A cult group is a group that claims exclusive revelation. And typically, it's hard to get out of these cult groups. And so Mormonism qualifies as that'."

"In addition, Haggard said, evangelicals do not accept Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith as a prophet. 'And we do not believe that the Book of Mormon has the same level of authority as the Bible,' he said."

"When Romney says that he accepts Jesus Christ as his savior, 'we appreciate that,' Haggard said. 'But very often when people like Mormons use terms that we also use, there are different meanings in the theology behind those terms'."
bullet"Dr. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said:
" 'Up until about 30 years ago, Mormons were very emphatic that they weren't Christians'."

"But evangelicals might overlook the theological divisions if Romney were the only social conservative on the ballot, Land said."

" 'If given a choice between a Mormon social conservative and a Catholic social conservative or an Episcopal social conservative or a Presbyterian social conservative, they are going to pick the Catholic or the Episcopal or the Presbyterian,' Land said. 'But if given a choice between [former New York Mayor Rudolph W.] Giuliani and Romney, I think a lot of evangelicals would vote for Romney. We are not electing a theologian-in-chief. We are electing a commander-in-chief'." 10
bulletSubstantial opposition over the past 20 years has come from some groups within the Counter-Cult Movement (CCM). Many within that movement regard the main LDS Church and other Mormon churches as evil, occultic, deviant cults within Christianity. They justify these assertions because Mormon churches teach some beliefs that do not agree with historical Evangelical Protestantism. Dozens of conservative Protestant authors and ministries have attacked Mormon denominations. Many appear to have little regard for accuracy.
bulletA number of anti-Mormon and ex-Mormon sources have indicated that the LDS Church's strong belief in chastity before marriage and in the importance of close family ties are a failure. One reference stated:

"...a review of social statistics in the State of Utah, which is at least 70% Mormon, shows the rates of divorce, child abuse and teenage pregnancy and suicide are above the national average and climbing" 5

This information is unreliable. It is typical of the sort of disinformation spread by some anti-Mormon groups. In reality:

bulletUtah is not 70% Mormon. The American Religious Identification Survey in 2001, which sampled over 50,000 homes in the U.S. found that only 57% of the adults in Utah identify themselves as Mormon. 6
bulletThe divorce rate in Utah about the same than for the nation generally;
bulletBirths to unmarried women is less than half the national average;
bulletBirths to teenage mothers is only about three quarters of the rate nationwide. (This includes both unwed mothers and married women)
bulletRates of mental and addictive disorders are lower than US averages.

We have been unable to check rates of child abuse. However, the LDS Church's disapproval of corporal punishment of children would probably make those data lower than the national average as well. However there are about a hundred other denominations and sects in the LDS Restorationist movement. Many of them advocate the use of strong corporal punishment which might lead to higher rates of child abuse.

The rate of completed suicides in Utah is 140 per million (1993 data). This is higher than the national figure of 121 per million. However, this is a deceptive statistic. Suicide rates increase from East to West across the United States and is heavily influenced by the degree of access to firearms. The suicide rate in Utah is slightly less than the average of the Rocky Mountain states.

bulletIn 1996, Russian General Alexander Lebed attacked a number of small religious groups in Russia. He asserted that Mormons were "mold and filth which have come to destroy the state." To counter this attack, Russian president, Boris Yeltsin sent an envoy to Salt Lake City in 1997-APR as a demonstration of good will.

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Attacks on Joseph Smith:

Joseph Smith was the founder of the LDS church. The LDS teaches that Smith translated golden plates into the Book of Mormon.

bulletAn American, James Adair, wrote a book A history of the American Indians in 1775. It attempted to prove that natives had descended from the ancient Israelites. This theme is also found in the Book of Mormon. On Pages 377 & 378 of Adair's book, there is a series of phrases describing Indian fortifications. These phrases are identical to the phrases which describe the construction of defensive forts in Chapters 48-50 and 53 of the Book of Alma. (The Book of Alma is one part of the Book of Mormon.) This would seem to indicate that Joseph Smith copied parts of Adair's book verbatim into the Book of Mormon.
bulletA hearing in Bainbridge NY in 1826 was held to examine Joseph Smith's involvement in an alleged fraud associated with a treasure hunt for Spanish silver. Court records are ambiguous; the hearing was either concluded with a decision that Smith was an impostor or that he should be ushered out of town.
bulletA common belief is that if Smith had not been a fraud he would have retranslated the Book of Lehi from the original tablets after his first translation went missing.
bulletSome critics have suggested that Smith was an occultist:
bulletThe technique that he used to translate the golden plates strongly resemble a popular divinatory method at the time, in which seer stones were placed in a hat and gazed upon. Smith is known to have possessed a seer stone.
bulletSmith visited the site of the plates on the date of the Autumn Equinox, an important Pagan/Occultic/Aboriginal seasonal day of celebration.

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Sponsored link:

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Attacks on the Book of Mormon, Mormon rituals, etc:

The LDS church considers the Book of Mormon to be a direct revelation from God that has been preserved without error. The book includes many details of ancient civilizations in North America. Many skeptical historians, anthropologists and other researchers have attempted to determine whether the Book was inspired by God, whether it is actually free of errors, and whether the historical statements in the book agree with archaeological remains left by earlier people. The church also continues to suffer attacks from non-Mormons and ex-Mormons who are not academics. They often portray Joseph Smith as a follower of pagan folk magic, a fraud and/or a fake. They also attack the present-day leadership of the LDS church in various ways - sometimes with little regard for accuracy. Some criticisms are:

bulletThe LDS church believes that the Book of Mormon was translated literally from the inscriptions on the golden tablets which were made about the fourth century CE. But the Book contains many passages containing phrases that are word-for-word identical to those found in the King James version of the Bible. The latter was completed in 1611 CE (over a millennium later). Some critics feel that this evidence proves that portions of the Book of Mormon were copied from the KJV Bible, not translated from the tablets.
bulletThere are several instances where forgeries by Christian scribes which appear in the King James version of the Bible also appear in the Book of Mormon. Two examples are:
bullet1 John 5:7 which appears in 3 Nephi 11:27,36
bulletMark 16:16 which appears in 3 Nephi 11:33-34
bulletThere are several instances where mistranslations in the King James Version of the Bible are copied over into the Book of Mormon:
bulletIsaiah 4:5 and 2 Nephi 14:5 refer to a "defense"; it should read "canopy"
bulletIsaiah 5:25 and 2 Nephi 15:25 refer to the word "torn"; it should read "refuse".
bulletThere are several passages in the Book of Mormon that have been criticize as anachronistic:
bulletSome critics claim that Nephi had a compass when they traveled to America. Compasses had not been invented at the time of their journey (600 BCE). Others point out that the compass mentioned in the book of Mormon was a spiritual guidance device, not like the modern direction finding tool. It was a magical device which was operated by faith. It directed believers to game, food, water, etc.
bulletNephi is also described as having a steel bow. Laban is described in 1 Nephi 4:9 as using a steel sword. Some critics claim that steel was not invented until after 600 BCE. However, very small quantities of steel (iron with 0.1% to 2% carbon content) were manufactured from the beginning of the iron age (circa 1700 BCE in Europe). So it is possible that a steel bow and sword could have been in use circa 600 BCE.
bulletThe Book of Ether (15:29-31) describes a battle in which Shiz was wounded and fainted from loss of blood. An opponent cut off the Shiz' head. Shiz then raised up upon his hands, fell, struggled for breath and died. Both the act of raising himself and breathing requires a working connection to a brain, which had previously been severed. So it is unreasonable to expect that Shiz could have struggled for breath as the book indicates. However, since his spinal reflexes might still have been intact, Shiz might have appeared to an observer as attempting to rise up and breathe.
bulletAccording to the Book of Mormon, Hill Cumorah "refers to a hill and surrounding area where the final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites took place, resulting in the annihilation of the Nephite people." 7 LDS President Harold B. Lee wrote: "On these hills there transpired some of the greatest events in the world's history. This is the place where the great dramatic events which brought about the restoration of the gospel took place..." The hill in western New York state is currently owned by the LDS. The Hill Cumorah Pageant is held there every summer. If the battle occurred here, then one would expect that many artifacts from the battle would have been found by archaeologists. In fact, none have ever been discovered. This indicates that a battle never occurred at this location. The Hill Cumorah iwhere the plates were allegedly found does not appear to be a defensive fortification, but rather an Indian burial mound similar to many others in the area. It is important to bear in mind that Joseph Smith never claimed that this location in New York state was the Hill Cumorah mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
bulletMormon beliefs about the origins of Native Americans do not agree with findings by genetic researchers.  With few exceptions, Native Americans are most closely related (in terms of blood factors, genetics, and physical characteristics) to the peoples of Mongolia and elsewhere in Asia. Their ancestors did not come from the Middle East.
bulletA thread of racism appears in the Book of Mormon and in past policies of the LDS. Such teachings appear incompatible with the rest of the Christian scriptures.
bullet2 Nephi 5:21 refers to God cursing some of the early inhabitants of America, the Lamanites: "And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them."
bulletThe sixth President of the LDS church was Joseph Fielding Smith -- not to be confused with the founder of the church, Joseph Smith. He wrote: "There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less." 8.9
bulletPrior to 1978, the LDS Church taught the racist revelation that blacks have been cursed by God with the "mark of Ham." As Elder Mark E. Petersen of the LDS Council of the Twelve Apostles said in 1954: "At least in the cases of the Lamanites and the Negro we have the definite word of the Lord Himself that he placed a dark skin upon them as a curse -- as a punishment and as a sign to all others. He forbade intermarriage with them under threat of extension of the curse. And He certainly segregated the descendants of Cain when He cursed the Negro as to the Priesthood, and drew an absolute line. You may even say He dropped an Iron curtain there..." 8
bulletTo their credit, the LDS abandoned their racist past in 1978 when they eliminated the barrier which prevented men with African-American ancestry from being ordained into the priesthood.
bulletAccording to many Evangelical web sites dealing with the LDS Church, a common Mormon concept is that God is married to a person called "Heavenly Mother." This belief is rejected by many Christians who cite the Old Testament verse of Jeremiah 7:18. God expressed his anger at some of the people of Judah who "make cakes for the Queen of Heaven" The implication is that there is no such person, and that the people are worshiping a non-existent Pagan Goddess. In Jeremiah 44:24-28, Jeremiah prophesized that God would exterminate the people of Judah in Egypt because they promised to "burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven."

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References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

  1. "United Methodists adopt guidelines for Mormons joining church," http://umns.umc.org/
  2. "Presbyterians and Latter-day Saints," Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396. See: http://pcusa80.pcusa.org/pcusa
  3. "LDS, Baptists hold 'gracious' talks; But questions stress churches' doctrinal conflict," at: http://www.desnews.com/misc/
  4. Feature Story, "Mormons insisting that they are Christians" 1998-MAR-2, available at: http://www.religiontoday.com (Search the web site for "Mormon")
  5. Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House, (1985), P. 166-226
  6. "American Religious Identification Survey," City University of New York, at: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/
  7. "The Hill Cumorah Pageant: America's Witness for Christ," at: http://www.lds.org/
  8. Tom Mathews, "An example for possible future changes in policy relating to women and gays," at: http://www.lds-mormon.com/racism.shtml
  9. Joseph Fielding Smith, "Doctrines of Salvation," Page 61.
  10. Elizabeth Mehren, "Romney's 2008 Bid Faces Issue of Faith. Massachusetts' GOP governor has political promise, but voters may not embrace a Mormon,"  LA Times, 2006-OCT-10, at: http://www.latimes.com/

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Copyright © 1997 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2006-NOV-15
Author: B.A. Robinson

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