Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
The Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and Why They are Wrong
The Latter Day Saints (LDS) or Mormons
To my understanding, the LDS are one of those religions where the members are not allowed to question their beliefs. Whatever the leaders teach, they are expected to accept it as the truth without question. If this is so, it automatically falls into the category of false religion in my book.
If there is one thing I am absolutely certain of, it is that man is not to be fully trusted. If anyone tells you it is wrong to question what you are taught, it is because they are teaching you lies and they don't want you to figure it out. If someone is certain they are speaking truth, they will have no fear of you checking into it.
I speak truth! I have no fear of anyone testing me on it. Take anything I say to scripture and prove me wrong. If you can prove me wrong, not only will I admit it, I will change my own beliefs to fit the truth. I have nothing to fear from someone double checking anything I teach! So if any church tells you it is wrong to double check what you are taught, leave it! Do not stop at park place, Do not stop at Go! Just leave as quickly as you can!
With that said, here are some of the many things wrong with the teachings of the Mormons.
The Book of Mormon has had thousands of corrections made to it through the years. If it was the perfect scripture of God given to Russell by God and translated by God and checked by God, how were there so many misspelled words, grammar mistakes, words used out of the wrong eras, plagiarism and simply put, bad writing in it?
A few examples....
The Book of Mormon (BM) uses words like "Thee, thou, ye and many others that one would find in the King James Version of the Bible. If the golden plates God gave to Russell were from long before the Bible and translated exactly, they would not be written in the same style as the KJV Bible. However, if Russell was a false prophet and wrote the book of Mormon himself, it would stand to reason it would use much of the same style as the KJV Bible he carried as well as words of his own era.
To make it worse, although the BM was supposedly written on Gold plates 1,200 to 2,000 years before the KJV Bible was written, nearly 1/8 of the BM is word for word copies of the KJV.
Why would they have so much of the same scriptures? Would God just repeat Himself? Well, that would be funny since all of the italicized words in the KJV (which Russell thought were words that were not in the original transcripts) were removed from the BM. Which is a mistake. Its hard to believe God would not repeat his own words exactly, but repeat the translation of the KJV Bible with all of the italicized words removed.
These following phrases in the New Testament were also used in the BM. Since the BM was supposed to be written long before the New Testament, I am unsure how this is possible...
1. "oh wretched man that I am" --- Romans 7:24 / 2 Nephi 4:17
2. "earthquake, rocks rent" --- Matt 27:51 / 1 Nephi 12:14
3. "old serpent, which is the devil" --- Rev 20:2 / 2 Nephi 2:18
4. "one faith, one baptism" --- Ephesians 4:5 / Mosiah 18:21
5. "One man perish" --- John 11:50 / 1 Nephi 4:13
The BM uses the word "Christ" throughout it. Christ is a Greek word that would not have been used in such an ancient book. How could a book that was written so long before, on golden tablets, have a word that was not used until nearly a thousand years later?
There is also a direct contradiction between the Bible and the BM as the BM has Jesus being accepted and the Bible has his own people rejecting him.
Forget the one book right now. What about Joseph Russell himself? He is supposed to be a great prophet of God. The Bible speaks about how to test whether a prophet is of God or not....
Deuteronomy 18:20-21
20 'But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' 21 "And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?' 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Basically the entire Mormon faith is built upon Joseph Russell being a great Prophet. So it comes down to two possibilities.
1) Russell received a book from God that was filled with plagiarism and errors. This is not possible as God would never make mistakes.
2) Russell wrote his own book riddled with mistakes, misspelled words and plagiarism.
There is no third option. Since God is perfect and would never make mistakes, we know the first option is off the table as well. That means the only possibility is that Russell wrote the Book of Mormons himself. I know anyone who is a Mormon will deny this, but can you give another reason there would be so much wrong with the Book of Mormon?
Mormons believe it is through your works you ascend to become a God. If one uses simple logic, they find this simply does not work. If God was once a man and had flesh and bones and ascended to become a God, and another God had made him, who made the first God? Are you telling me that man has no beginning and we have always been around? There was no beginning to the universe? Even though science has pretty much proven the universe had a beginning?
God never having a beginning because he is God? I can accept that possibility. Man never having a beginning? No way. The universe never having a beginning? Nope. Logically there had to be a beginning for the universe and for man at one time or another. Science has all but proven the big bang theory is fact. The expansion of the universe coincides with the fact that it all comes from one point in space at one point in time. Whatever created that big bang had to be God. It could not possibly have been man when there was no universe for man to exist in yet. That would mean there is one God who never had a beginning and would be above all other Gods.
If there is one God above all others, why would He have wanted man to ascend to be his equal? Once again, this just does not add up to simple logic. Especially when he states he is a Jealous God and will have no other Gods before him.
And of course we can do a full circle right back to the simple fact that LDS leaders tell the members that it is a sin to question their teachings. If nothing else, this alone would tell me it is a false religion. Because if a religion is a true correct religion, it does not fear the truth. It wont tell people not to question their teachings. It will tell people to put them to the test because they will be confident that the truth will lead back to them.
Any religion that does not want its members thinking for themselves is a religion to stay away from.
As a last note:
From the Book of Mormons
Mosiah 27:24-26 on page 201
“For, say he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit. And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, man and women, all nations, kindreds, tongue and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; and thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.”
This sure sounds like it says you are saved through being Born Again and not by your good works. Now show me where in the Book of Mormons it says otherwise. Not from the KJV which you don't agree with being translated right, but through your book of Mormons, where does it say otherwise?
To my understanding, the LDS are one of those religions where the members are not allowed to question their beliefs. Whatever the leaders teach, they are expected to accept it as the truth without question. If this is so, it automatically falls into the category of false religion in my book.
If there is one thing I am absolutely certain of, it is that man is not to be fully trusted. If anyone tells you it is wrong to question what you are taught, it is because they are teaching you lies and they don't want you to figure it out. If someone is certain they are speaking truth, they will have no fear of you checking into it.
I speak truth! I have no fear of anyone testing me on it. Take anything I say to scripture and prove me wrong. If you can prove me wrong, not only will I admit it, I will change my own beliefs to fit the truth. I have nothing to fear from someone double checking anything I teach! So if any church tells you it is wrong to double check what you are taught, leave it! Do not stop at park place, Do not stop at Go! Just leave as quickly as you can!
With that said, here are some of the many things wrong with the teachings of the Mormons.
The Book of Mormon has had thousands of corrections made to it through the years. If it was the perfect scripture of God given to Russell by God and translated by God and checked by God, how were there so many misspelled words, grammar mistakes, words used out of the wrong eras, plagiarism and simply put, bad writing in it?
A few examples....
The Book of Mormon (BM) uses words like "Thee, thou, ye and many others that one would find in the King James Version of the Bible. If the golden plates God gave to Russell were from long before the Bible and translated exactly, they would not be written in the same style as the KJV Bible. However, if Russell was a false prophet and wrote the book of Mormon himself, it would stand to reason it would use much of the same style as the KJV Bible he carried as well as words of his own era.
To make it worse, although the BM was supposedly written on Gold plates 1,200 to 2,000 years before the KJV Bible was written, nearly 1/8 of the BM is word for word copies of the KJV.
Why would they have so much of the same scriptures? Would God just repeat Himself? Well, that would be funny since all of the italicized words in the KJV (which Russell thought were words that were not in the original transcripts) were removed from the BM. Which is a mistake. Its hard to believe God would not repeat his own words exactly, but repeat the translation of the KJV Bible with all of the italicized words removed.
These following phrases in the New Testament were also used in the BM. Since the BM was supposed to be written long before the New Testament, I am unsure how this is possible...
1. "oh wretched man that I am" --- Romans 7:24 / 2 Nephi 4:17
2. "earthquake, rocks rent" --- Matt 27:51 / 1 Nephi 12:14
3. "old serpent, which is the devil" --- Rev 20:2 / 2 Nephi 2:18
4. "one faith, one baptism" --- Ephesians 4:5 / Mosiah 18:21
5. "One man perish" --- John 11:50 / 1 Nephi 4:13
The BM uses the word "Christ" throughout it. Christ is a Greek word that would not have been used in such an ancient book. How could a book that was written so long before, on golden tablets, have a word that was not used until nearly a thousand years later?
There is also a direct contradiction between the Bible and the BM as the BM has Jesus being accepted and the Bible has his own people rejecting him.
Forget the one book right now. What about Joseph Russell himself? He is supposed to be a great prophet of God. The Bible speaks about how to test whether a prophet is of God or not....
Deuteronomy 18:20-21
20 'But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' 21 "And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?' 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Basically the entire Mormon faith is built upon Joseph Russell being a great Prophet. So it comes down to two possibilities.
1) Russell received a book from God that was filled with plagiarism and errors. This is not possible as God would never make mistakes.
2) Russell wrote his own book riddled with mistakes, misspelled words and plagiarism.
There is no third option. Since God is perfect and would never make mistakes, we know the first option is off the table as well. That means the only possibility is that Russell wrote the Book of Mormons himself. I know anyone who is a Mormon will deny this, but can you give another reason there would be so much wrong with the Book of Mormon?
Mormons believe it is through your works you ascend to become a God. If one uses simple logic, they find this simply does not work. If God was once a man and had flesh and bones and ascended to become a God, and another God had made him, who made the first God? Are you telling me that man has no beginning and we have always been around? There was no beginning to the universe? Even though science has pretty much proven the universe had a beginning?
God never having a beginning because he is God? I can accept that possibility. Man never having a beginning? No way. The universe never having a beginning? Nope. Logically there had to be a beginning for the universe and for man at one time or another. Science has all but proven the big bang theory is fact. The expansion of the universe coincides with the fact that it all comes from one point in space at one point in time. Whatever created that big bang had to be God. It could not possibly have been man when there was no universe for man to exist in yet. That would mean there is one God who never had a beginning and would be above all other Gods.
If there is one God above all others, why would He have wanted man to ascend to be his equal? Once again, this just does not add up to simple logic. Especially when he states he is a Jealous God and will have no other Gods before him.
And of course we can do a full circle right back to the simple fact that LDS leaders tell the members that it is a sin to question their teachings. If nothing else, this alone would tell me it is a false religion. Because if a religion is a true correct religion, it does not fear the truth. It wont tell people not to question their teachings. It will tell people to put them to the test because they will be confident that the truth will lead back to them.
Any religion that does not want its members thinking for themselves is a religion to stay away from.
As a last note:
From the Book of Mormons
Mosiah 27:24-26 on page 201
“For, say he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit. And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, man and women, all nations, kindreds, tongue and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; and thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.”
This sure sounds like it says you are saved through being Born Again and not by your good works. Now show me where in the Book of Mormons it says otherwise. Not from the KJV which you don't agree with being translated right, but through your book of Mormons, where does it say otherwise?
