PSEUDO-SCRIPTURES
Besides the Bible, the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, teach that there
are three books written by God and are therefore without any errors. These three books are: the Book of Mormon (BOM), which is supposedly an account of
the original inhabitants of America to whom Christ appeared after His
resurrection, and it purports to be a second witness to the truthfulness of the
gospel of Jesus Christ (the first witness
being the Bible); Doctrine of Covenants (D&C),
which is a record of 138 revelations revealing some of Mormonism’s distinctive
doctrines such as baptism for the dead and celestial marriage; and the Pearl of
Great Price (P of GP), which contains
the “Book of Moses” (a rough equivalent
to the first six chapters of Genesis), “the Book of Abraham” (a translation of an Egyptian Papyrus that
later proved to be fraudulent), an extract from Joseph Smith, Jr’s
translation of the Bible (Joseph Smith
was the founder and first President/Prophet of the Mormon Church), extracts
from the History of Joseph Smith (Joseph’s
biography), and the “Articles of Faith.”
These three including the Bible make up what is commonly called “the
standard works.”
Because the Bible is the oldest
of the four standard works of Mormons (2,000
to 3,500 years old), and is considered to be God’s Word, and because God
does not lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18;
Numbers 23:19) and can be relied upon at all times (2 Timothy 2:13), therefore the younger revelations (i.e., the BOM, D&C, and P of GP)
should be judged by the oldest revelation (the
Bible) as to their accuracy and authenticity. If the younger books, which the Mormons also
claim to be God’s Word, disagree or contradict the oldest book, the Bible, then
the younger books are in error, since truth does not change nor does God’s mind
(1 Samuel 15:29).
I. THE BOOK OF MORMON CONTRADICTS THE BIBLE.
A. The BOM teaches that Jesus was to be born at
B. In Alma 46:15, the BOM claims that true
believers were called Christians before the time of Christ (the date at the bottom of the page reads “BC 73”). However, the Bible claims that true believers
were first called Christians after Christ died and after the story in Alma (Acts 11:26).
C. The BOM claims that the language of the
Jaredites was not confounded at the Tower of Babel (Ether 1:34-37). The Bible,
however, states that God confused the language of the whole earth (Genesis 11:9).
D. The BOM’s concept of God differs from that of
the Bible’s. The BOM, while affirming
the existence of one God, identifies the person of the Father as the person of
the Son, a revival of an ancient heresy known as modalism (Mosiah 15:1-5; Ether 3:14).
The Bible, however, teaches that God is a Trinity – within the nature of
the one God (Deut.6:4; Isaiah 45:5, 18),
there are three eternal Persons (each of
whom are separate and distinct from the other), Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. Although Jesus is the one true
God (John 1:1; 1 John
II. DOCTRINES AND COVENANTS CONTRADICTS THE BIBLE.
A. D&C 130:22 teaches that God “the Father
has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.” This contradicts the Biblical teaching that
“God is Spirit” (John 4:24) and “a
Spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke
24:39; see also Jeremiah 23:24 – as a Spirit, God is present everywhere – Psalm
139:7-10).
B. D&C also teaches that each person’s
essence, his intelligence, has always existed and so was never created. Man is as eternal as God Himself (D&C 93:29). The Bible, however, teaches that man is a
creation (the Hebrew word for “create,”
“bara,” means to create without the use of pre-existing material) of God
and thus had no prior existence before his earthly life (Genesis 1:27; Job 38:1-7).
C. D&C 132:37,19-22 teaches that men can
become gods. However, the Bible
emphatically declares that men will never become gods (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8-9).
D. D&C
130:3 says that God does not dwell in the heart of man. The Bible says He does (2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 3:17).
E. D&C 42:18 explains that a killer “shall
not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.” In the Bible, however, Moses was guilty of
murder (Exodus
III. THE
A. The Book of Abraham, chapters 4 & 5
plainly teach there are many gods, not just one. The Bible teaches that there is only one true
God (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8-9; 1 Timothy
2:5; Isaiah 45:5, 18; 44:24).
B. The Book of Abraham 2:6-8 claims that God
told Abraham that His name was Jehovah.
However, the name Jehovah was not known to Abraham, so its usage
in the Book of Abraham is fraudulent.
Second, there is no name “Jehovah” – it is our improper transliteration
of the Hebrew consonants YHWH, the vowels being interpolated from the Hebrew
word “Adonai” (Lord). In Exodus 6:3, God states to Moses that His
name “Jehovah” (YHWH) was not known to Abraham.
C. “The Articles of Faith” teaches that the
Gospel, which saves a person, has laws and ordinances (Article #3). However, the
Bible teaches that the Gospel, which saves a person, does not have any laws or
ordinances (1 Corinthians 15:1-4;
Ephesians 2:8, 9ff; Romans 11:6; Titus 3:5; Isaiah 64:6).
Because
the Mormon Scriptures contradict the Bible, the oldest of the four standard
works, the Mormon Scriptures (i.e., BOM,
D&C, P of GP) must be in error, because God cannot lie and tells the
truth from the very beginning!
Do not add to His words
lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar – Proverbs 30:6.