Why Is the Mormon Church So Deceptive?
On Saturday, March 10th, I went with a group from St. John's to see an exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the visitors center in Kirtland, Ohio. We went there to see the exhibit, as well as, take a tour of their historic village and temple. Joseph Smith was in Kirtland from 1831 to 1838 and their church was headquartered there.
But, I can not remember a time in my life where I have been more disgusted with what I saw. What we witnessed was the Mormon church at its deceptive finest and a classic bait and switch! Instead of it being an objective presentation of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), they attempted to draw connections between the community that many people believe produced the DSS and the Mormon doctrine and practice. One particular example was the strict dietary restrictions of the Essene community that produced the DSS. They said that the Mormons are the community that continues these strict religious observances and therefore, the Mormons are the restored church.
What upset me the most was in the room in which they were displaying their copies of many of the DSS. As you walked around the room, you listened to a running commentary of what you were seeing. Throughout the commentary was Mormon propaganda. And to top it off, at the very end of the exhibit was a table that contained the Bible, as well as, the Book of Mormon. They were saying loud and clear that the Book of Mormon was in line with the Biblical writings of the DSS and should therefore be believed and accepted as God's Word.
Now, anyone who has studied the Mormon church at all knows that they believe the Book of Mormon to be an additional revelation of God's Word. But, to "hijack" and manipulate the DSS, in such a way, as to say that Mormon doctrine and practice can be legitimized in the DSS is from a scholarly point of view, extremely dishonest and from a Christian point of view, deceptive and unbelievably evil.
After we walked around looking at the exhibit, we had a question-and-answer period with one of the leading elders. I raised my hand and asked point blank, "How can you possibly draw any conclusions whatsoever between the DSS and Mormon teaching? Is this honest?" From there, we debated Mormon doctrine for the next 30 minutes or so. Members of our congregation and myself rebuked the man one point after the other. At one point, he tried to dismiss me by saying that nowhere in the Bible does it say that church should pay their clergy. He also said that he was a former judge and that I was getting dangerously close to contempt. I was offending him and was out of order. If I was out of order, than so be it! I could not believe that they had the audacity to do what they were doing and someone had to say something!
At still a later point, as we were watching a video on the history of the temple in Kirtland, the presenter was talking about what the original temple looked liked when it was built in the 1830's. Because the early Mormon people were relatively poor, they couldn't afford the finest materials. So, they tried to create an illusion, with paint and other materials, to make it look more expensive, elaborate and majestic. How ironic! The Mormon church trying to make themselves look different than they actually are! There is no greater deception that goes on in our world today than what the Mormon church is involved in! I am dedicating myself to continual study, as much as I possibly can, so that I can renounce them at every level. I have never seen so many people lie, with a straight face, or worse yet, with a smile. Lord have mercy!
posted by stjohnstrongs @ 9:55 AM
23 comments
23 Comments:
Sad that you can't appreciate anothers beliefs and have to say they are bad. Mormons do a lot of good. Of course they are going to tell you about their religion. It is what they truly believe and want others to know the joy they find in their religion. I try not to judge others but look at the good they do. When someone knows something is true they will tell all they meet about it.
Thank you for your comment. I must respectfully disagree. What I am saying is not my personal opinion. What I am saying is following the directive of Titus 1:9, which says, "He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it." What the Mormon churches teaches is not sound doctrine and so all pastors and believers in Jesus have a responsibility to point it out. Also, what they are doing with the Dead Sea Scrolls is not honest. God bless
So how is that any different from the way you propagandize your message? All I see here is a message of hate, not Christianity from you.
When some of my family first found of my desbelief, I was accussed of hatred towards the church, and them personally.
It is a standard reaction by members. Anonymous charges of hate are there to protect themselves.
I read his post and he showed anger towards manipulation of facts, but the hatred you accuse him of IS NOT THERE.
I guess you really shouldn't be surprised that the Mormons would try to hijack the DSS, they did have the audacity to hijack the Bible. It is a shame they had to ruin one of the great archaeological finds of the past century
I guess "afraid to own up to my criticism" equates critiques with hate.
Have you ever been to an LDS church service? Nothing is more peaceful in life than knowing I am a daughter of God...That He gave us his son Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to walk among us..to teach us of love, faith, hope, and charity...This is taught to all who enter the church...Do not fret over another church's doctrine..It isn't for you to judge...So please get down on your knees today and open your heart and soul up and let the Lord Jesus Christ answer your questions...if you are truly in your heart sincere, you will receive those answers you are struggling in your soul so deep with, and be amazingly fulfilled and peaceful with what has been revealed to you.........this is what is taught every day in the LDS church...I wish you well in your journey
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate the fact that you wish me well. I also appreciate the fact that I am a child of God. I appreciate knowing that I am saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. There is nothing I can do to earn God's favor. My good works or good life do not contribute toward my salvation in any manner. I do good works for the sake of my fellow man. I am wondering: (and believe me that I am sincere when I ask this) do you feel the same way? When all things are said and done, when God calls you home, the question always remains, "Have I done enough to get to where I want to be?" If you are not sure, how does this make you feel? If you can say no I have not, but thanks be to God that Jesus has, then praise be to God. God bless you.
I think what the pastor has done here is properly rebuke public deception in an equally public forum. There is no hatred of man here, but of falacy. To allow others to have their faith in something different from their own is one thing, allowing them to propogate untruth to others is wrong. I think all that was asked here is that the scrolls be displayed in a historically accurate fashion, with no slant toward any religion whatsoever. That no one would force their beliefs to be heard by another, in order to just see the history would be truly the most peaceful gesture on their part, don't you think?
Oh the adversary is cunning…
I was born and raised a mormon in Salt Lake City, Utah and I am very happy to say that I am now a True Believer and have left ‘the group’. I thank God every day that my salvation does not depend on me! God gave me the knowledge (not a burning in my bosom) that I am Saved and I will be with Him in Heaven. I can hardly wait. I now know that Jesus not only came as an example for me to live by (as mentioned in a previous comment) but to live for me and to die for me. There was no other way for me to get to Heaven which is where God is (and there are no levels).
I’m having a difficult time with my anger towards the deceptive and divergent teachings of the lds church. Living in the heart of mormondom, I am faced with it everywhere I go and I wasn’t at all surprised to read how they used the Dead Sea Scrolls. I have talked with quite a few mormons about my experience in the hopes that they will question what they are taught and to take the Bible as the literal word of God. In doing this; I have been laughed at, screamed at, treated with disgust and forgotten by some. However; I will continue to tell mormons what I Know to be God’s Truth. It is what God wants me to do.
I’d like to add that according to the official story of the LDS Church; in 1820 Joseph Smith was visited by God the Father and God the Son after praying about which church he should join. He was told by Jesus, he should join none of them for they were "all wrong" and all the Christian church's doctrines "were an abomination" (Joseph Smith - History 19, Pearl of Great Price).
With that said by the founder of mormonism, how can they call themselves Christian? And when I speak against the mormon church with anger and disgust, I am not persecuting mormons, I’m simply refuting what crazy Joe said.
I suggest reading “One Nation Under Gods” by Richard Abanes.
Paint Chips- author unknown
Being a part of the Mormon church is like having your whole body painted with many layers. First you get the lessons...there are several coats of doctrine. Then you get baptized and confirmed; two more thick coats of paint. The "paint" is intended to refurbish you as a member, to make you more acceptable to the church, to "God," to others. With each Relief Society or Priesthood lesson, another coat is applied. With each meeting, each interview, the layers of paint build. A trip to the Temple takes several coats and is inspected after each year. Then one day, you realize, you can't move! When you question about your lack of movement, the inspector tells you that your foundation is just fine. You try and sit still and remain the representation of a church "remodeled" member. But the questions come from within.
Then you hear something. A crack. A deep crack begins from the inside out. You doubt yourself because you know if you don't keep quiet, someone will hear! Someone will SEE that your appearance is now damaged. Someone might question if you have been properly taking care of your foundation, etc. Then one day, it happens. Just a small patch breaks away. You see something unusual. You touch it and are surprised. "Is that my skin?" you ask. It feels so alive and real. You begin to gently pick it away, then in a fervor you are scraping as much as you can off. Paint chips are everywhere! Soon you are standing there uncovered. You feel free. You breathe. Your body aches from the release of all that weight. You sigh and do not worry that other "painted folks" will see you without your so called "protective shell" You start the clean up job. Quickly and efficiently you sweep up all the chips and flakes. There are so many of them! It seems overwhelming at first, but then the job is done. All the mess is tossed out. You love your clean house; the way your body can breathe and move and LIVE! You are rearranging your life and then BAM you find a paint chip under the rug. Somehow you missed it...or did you save it? One day you go to get a coat and a few missed chips fall from a sleeve. Little reminders of what used to be. "It may take a while to get rid of all this residue" you say. But that is ok.
Thank you very much for your comments. I am very glad that you saw through the Mormon deception. Your last two paragraphs (paint chips section) are extremely perceptive. I think I will use that in my teaching about Mormonism, if that is okay. God bless you and continue to hold on to the trustworthy message as it has been received and gently but firmly refute those who oppose it.
Shortly after I became a Christian, I came across "Paint Chip" (author unknown) while searching on the internet. It is exactly how I felt leaving mormonism and I know it will help others.
God Bless you in your efforts to help others see the deception of mormonism.
In Christ, Debbie
Faith without works is dead. However, we are saved by grace. To do good works is not to "earn your way into heaven". That sounds rediculous. Good works are the manifestation of true faith in the grace of Jesus Christ. Mormons do not belive that anyone can be saved by good works. It is only through the One and Only Savior Jesus Christ that anyone is saved. I believe that any church teaching of peace and goodness is working toward God's ultimate goal for us to be happy. I don't think that anybody should preach against another person's beliefs since each person's relationship with God is their own. Having said that, I do believe that each person has a responsibility to try to share their light with others. Just remember that you don't have to blow out another person's candle in order to make yours appear brighter. We should all tread lightly when making allegations about another's faith. God bless.
I appreciate your thoughts on society and I agree with you about how dangerous our society has become.
I realize that you need to share your witness of the truth as much as I or anyone else needs to, and although there are theological differences between the Lutheran Church and the Catholic church and any other Christian church, by and large we all have a common goal and that is to point people to Christ.
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints is true. I respect your beliefs and convictions as well.
I guess what I would want people to know is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints doesn't have any paid clergy and that it is a priviledge to serve the Lord for free. It should be a priviledge for everyone to serve the Lord. Our church is the second largest contributor to humanitarian aid-the red cross is #1 and we help them out also. We are at all national disasters within 24hrs with supplies. Where in the bible does it say it's ok for clergy to be paid to serve God????? Just curious. You never addressed it with follow up scripture to support your view.You don't think it's deceptive for a pastor to take money from the poor and put it in his pocket??? Wow!!!
I invite all to go to L.D.S.org if you want to read about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If I want to know about Lutherans I go to their website not the catholics website. It saddens me to see websites where supposed Christians are slamming other religions. L.D.S.org does not do that by the way. We believe in uplifting messages and it is wonderful.We have too many wonderful talks to waste time and space on slamming other churches. Too bad some have to be bitter and hateful in the name of religion-shame on you and shame on anyone who spreads lies about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints when they(we) do so much for others. I just want to say that all of us should follow Jesus' example and treat everyone with respect afterall, we are all children of God. The Church of Jesus Christ works with Catholic churches on charities and it is wonderful! Judge not lest ye be judged.You are all invited to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on any Sunday to see for yourself what the church is like. I would ask you to then pray to your Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ if the church is true. Let's make 2008 about love for all people the way Jesus Christ would want us to.
Debbie B. Otis Orchards WA
I have been many faiths in my life, I was baptized as an infant in the Luthern Church, and raised Catholic, through the years I search for some one to answer questions to the Priests, nuns etc, but none could. I was excommunicated in the Catholic church due to my first husband never being released, he still is a member, then rebaptised as Luthern, I belong to the Church of Christ, and the Penecostal Religion, but still no one could answer questions I had. Then in 1975, someone could, The Holy Spirit led me to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They answered the questions about how if God our Father loved us so much that he would see those innocent beings go to Purgatory or Hell because they did not know them. How can infants be thrust out of his sight, because they did not have a chance to believe.
I am proud to Be of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and as the Christians back in Roman times were persecuted for the faith they so strongly believe in so be it, You are all Children of our Heavenly Father, and he still loves you even in unbelief.
If it satisfys you egos to do so,continue, Satan loves it.
May Heavenly Father bless you, and hope you have a wonderful name, I leave this to you in Jesus Christ name.
Dianne Sabido
Phoenix Az.
You are all stupid. Spend your time researching and debating tiny points of doctrine, when, instead, you could be doing good works. Shame on you, sir.
And I agree with the comments about the Mormons. By their fruits ye shall know them. They do good works. Leave them be; they certainly do the same for you.
And give me a break with that saved by grace horseshit. You are saved by grace after all you can do. You will never be perfect. Period. Your works will never get you into heaven, because you need to be perfect to enter heaven, but you DO HAVE to work. You pay all you can and God pays the rest. End of story.
Oh, and one last note: The reason I could never be a Lutheran or a Catholic (basically the same church), is you guys think God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are ONE PERSON. How's that possible? No wonder people hate religion. It doesn't make sense.
Debate your life away, jackass. I'll be over here helping my fellow man.
How wonderful it is to know that my salvation does not depend upon me.
Picture the three men on the three crosses. One was Christ Jesus and the other two were sinners. Of the two sinners, one believed and Jesus said to him "Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise." This man simply believed. He did not do wonderous works. He simple believed in Christ during the last few minutes of his life.
To have such a strong belief in Christ, you must die to yourself and let God's Holy Spirit fill you. This is not done through any rituals of man but through Christ Jesus only. When one is filled with the Spirit, they do many good works. Good works follow faith. It is not faith follows good works.
There are many Mormons who are good people who do good works. There are also many good people of different faiths that do good works. Will this be enough? Will it be enough for a person who does not believe in Christ but is a great person who does great works?
Everyone should ask themselves one question and seek the answer outside of their faith as well as within:
What will happen to my soul if what I believe is false?
PRAISE TO JESUS CHRIST ONLY!!!
not to any man...
How wonderful it is to know that my salvation does not depend upon me.
Picture the three men on the three crosses. One was Christ Jesus and the other two were sinners. Of the two sinners, one believed and Jesus said to him "Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise." This man simply believed. He did not do wonderous works. He simple believed in Christ during the last few minutes of his life.
To have such a strong belief in Christ, you must die to yourself and let God's Holy Spirit fill you. This is not done through any rituals of man but through Christ Jesus only. When one is filled with the Spirit, they do many good works. Good works follow faith. It is not faith follows good works.
There are many Mormons who are good people who do good works. There are also many good people of different faiths that do good works. Will this be enough? Will it be enough for a person who does not believe in Christ but is a great person who does great works?
Everyone should ask themselves one question and seek the answer outside of their faith as well as within:
What will happen to my soul if what I believe is false?
PRAISE TO JESUS CHRIST ONLY!!!
not to any man...
During the last few years I have extricated myself from the religious indoctrination of my own youth. Of all contemporary religious groups in the U.S., it is, in fact, the LDS church that interests me the most. Whatever the Saints may say about the application of their faith--its gentleness, compassion, etc.--their church is based on one tremendous fraud. Read Who Really Write the Book of Mormon and enjoy the most detailed presentation of its source.
I continue to watch BYU-TV whenever their theology faculty (from the BYU Department of Ancient Scripture) parse their holy books--the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants--with such passion. Whatever meaning they may draw from such self-serving and obviously scripted conversations is astounding. But the very foundation of their faith is the concoction of charlatan and dowser.
This is a very evil and destructive site. There is not a spirit of love here at all. I have spent the last year being vilified for my religion...I am weary of the negative words printed about my Savior and Joseph Smith. I am a woman of great faith, I love my Savior, I adore Him. He is who chose to save me and all the rest of us. He came to the earth in complete humility to teach us, to give us an example of what we could be...He answered questions with questions...he was never confused, and he never was baited. the most evil people who have ever lived betrayed him and killed him. Yet it was his decision, he gave his life, they did not take it. I have listened to pastors in our area stand at their podiums preaching the evils of the Mormon Church when they would be far more served by preaching the word of God. their fear is manifested by their words...if they did not fear the truth they would spend no time even speaking about the Mormon church. I read with some alarm as the good reverend vilified another church. Has he not enough to do in his own church?...he needs to be spending time watching his flock, if the Mormon Church is wrong, and he certainly feels it is, then it will not stand. The Lord will not bless it, the people will not prosper, the work will not go forward. Simple. But instead the work does go forward, just as Daniel said, it will go forward and fill the whole earth...My daughter filled a mission in Kirtland Ohio, she loved the people of Ohio. She loved Ohio...she gained a testimony of the Savior there. It was just my daughter and the Savior. I know He lives, I know there is one God, and He has one church....it is up to all of us to find what that is for each of us. God is of one mind, he is not going to tell the Baptists they can't dance, and tell the Methodists they can...he is not going to tell the clergy of Catholism they cannot marry but Lutherns can...too much confusion. I went on a journey, I found my answers and I respect the journey and the answers others receive. I will never vilify, the Savior never did..he is my example and my Savior. And I will be saved by grace alone....grace is the enabling power in our lives to do good.
Donna Tagliaferri
Las Vegas, Nevada
For anyone who is LDS, I ask simply that you answer the following questions which are not intended to cause anger or hurt feelings. I would just like an honest answer.
I once asked a Mormon what the following scripture means to them knowing that they too may become a god:
Isaiah 43:10
“But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord.“You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God—there never has been, and there never will be.
The response was that they will become a God of their own planet and will not have any other beside them.
Can you visit other Gods on other planets? No, but as a God you will know where every other God is.
Interesting…
This brings me to my next question: If you are all Gods of your own planet, then how can families be together forever?
I just want to reiterate that I do not mean to make any LDS upset, I simply want to know what your thoughts on this issue.
One other question is “why do you get baptized”?
In response to God of our own planet to us LDS, I am not familiar with the term of our own planet. I am however very familiar with becoming Gods and Godesses. We can never be perfect while on the earth but we are all supposed to be striving towards perfection. That's why we are all here is so that we can all be tested and tried and judged come judgement day. In Heaven we can become perfect because we are not going to be faced with the same temptations that we have on the earth so in Heaven yes we can become perfect. But no, nobody on earth is perfect or ever will be except Christ himself and yes we believe in Gods word and follow his commandments. And also in revelation it states we will be judged by our works so I guess all the other religions don't believe or follow the New Testament? You all need to know the definition of "works" before saying it doesn't matter to God or the Savior.
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