Lesson for December 3, 2025
Mormonism
Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. A prominent feature of Mormon theology is the Book of Mormon, a 19th-century text which describes itself as a chronicle of early Indigenous peoples of the Americas and their dealings with God. They belief the Bible, the book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are all inspired by God.
Joseph Smith was a 14 year old farm boy from Western New York. He believed that God existed but was confused by what he believed to be contradictions in the beliefs of various churches. He wrote this, “While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.'” After praying about which denomination he should join, Smith said he received a vision in the spring of 1820. Smith said that God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to him and instructed him to join none of the existing churches because they were all wrong. Smith wrote about several angelic visitations and was eventually told by the angels that God would use him to re-establish the “true Christian church.”
In 1830, Smith published the Book of Mormon which he claimed to have translated from ancient writings found on golden plates. He said an angel first showed him the location of the plates in 1823, buried in a nearby hill. After obtaining the plates in 1827, Smith began dictating the text of the Book of Mormon in April 1828 with the assistance of Martin Harris and later Oliver Cowdery. After several interruptions, Smith completed the manuscript in June 1829. Smith said the plates were returned to the angel after he finished the translation.
The Book of Mormon claims to be a chronicle of early Israelites who left the Near East and traveled to the Americas. The book begins in 600 BC with the departure from Jerusalem of the family of a prophet named Lehi, and their sailing to the Americas. It tells of people in the Americas (presumably Native Americans) with a belief in Jesus hundreds of years before His birth and Jesus’s personal visitation to them after His resurrection. According to Smith, the Book of Mormon and other revelations would be the means of establishing correct doctrine for a restored church.
The early church encountered criticism and persecution from residents of Palmyra, New York, so they moved to Kirtland, Ohio and later to Missouri. In 1838, fighting between the Missourians and Mormons resulted in the governor of Missouri issuing an “extermination order” against the Mormons, forcing them to flee the state. They relocated to Illinois under Smith’s direction, in a town called Nauvoo. When tensions between Mormons and their neighbors escalated in 1844, Smith was killed by a mob. Brigham Young, Smith’s successor, led them to Utah. They claimed a membership of 16 million in 2020. (source: Wikipedia)
Here are some of their false teachings and what the Bible teaches:
- Mormonism – God was once a man who progressed to become God. (King Follet Discourse by Joseph Smith)
The Bible – God is eternal, unchanging, and has always been God. (Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 43:10, 44:6, 45:5)
- Mormonism – Jesus is a created being, the spirit brother of Lucifer/ Satan. (Gospel Principles, chapter 3).
The Bible – Jesus is eternal, uncreated, and fully divine. (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17)
- Mormonism – salvation requires faith, baptism, obedience, and temple ordinances. (2 Nephi 25:23).
The Bible – salvation is by grace through faith, not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:28; Titus 3:5)
- Mormonism – the Bible is true “as far as it is translated correctly” but must be supplemented. (Article of Faith #8).
The Bible – Scripture is complete and sufficient. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter1:20-21)
- Mormonism – faithful Mormons can become gods. (Doctrine & Covenants 132:20).
The Bible – only one God exists; believers cannot become gods. (Isaiah 44:6-8; Revelation 21:3-4)
- Mormonism – little children are not capable of sin because they do not have a sinful nature. (Moroni 8:8)
The Bible – everyone is born with a sin nature. (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23, 5:12, 6:6, 12; I John 1:8)
- Mormonism – the disobedience of Adam and Eve in eating the forbidden fruit was necessary so that they could have children and bring joy to mankind. (2 Nephi 2:23-25)
The Bible – Adam’s disobedience was a sinful act of rebellion that resulted in spiritual death, not the ability to procreate. God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. (Genesis 1:28; Romans 5:12; 8:20-21)
- Mormonism – black skin is a sign of God’s curse, so that white-skinned people are considered morally and spiritually superior to black-skinned people. (2 Nephi 5:21)
The Bible – God “made of one blood all nations of men” (Acts 17:26, KJV). In Christ distinctions of ethnicity, gender, and social class are erased. (Galatians 3:28) God condemns partially. (James 2:1)
- Mormonism – it is by grace that we are saved, but effort and striving are still required to receive it. (2 Nephi 25:23; Moroni 10:32)
The Bible – apart from Christ we are dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1,5) and unable to do anything to merit forgiveness and eternal life. Salvation is wholly of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 11:6; Titus 3:5-6), not by grace plus works. Good works are a result, not the basis, of a right relationship with God. (Ephesians 2:10)
- Mormonism – water baptism is necessary for salvation (Nephi 31:13)
The Bible – water baptism is not necessary for salvation. Water baptism teaches identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and is a picture of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, when believers become united with Christ. (Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 3:27)
(source: misagarcia.com)
Religion is one of Satan’s “ace trumps,” leading millions of people to end up in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. Those who get caught up in religion are led down a path of spiritual destruction through false doctrine. Using a false concept of God and Christ as a foundation, religion sets up standards of behavior that are difficult, if not impossible to adhere to. A person whose lifestyle is based on following the teaching of religion lives a life filled with guilt and fear. They never know the joy of living a lifestyle in fellowship with God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and glorifying Jesus Christ, by learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine.