Mormon Missionaries 1 What do you know about

Mormon Missionaries 1. What do you know about the Mormon Church? 2. What do they consider to be their source/standard of authority? 3. Can you identify a Mormon belief or doctrine? 4. Do you know what the Book of Mormon is about? 5. Have you ever had a Mormon Missionary visit you in order to have a study with you? 6. Have you ever had a Bible study with a Mormon Missionary?

1. Members worldwide— 15, 082, 028 2. Number of Congregations— 29, 253 3. The Book of Mormon and other books of Mormonism have been translated into 189 languages 4. They have 144 Temples 5. Five Universities and Colleges: Brigham Young University [Provo, UT; Laie, HI; Rexburg, ID], LDS Business College in Salt Lake City; Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, VA, Dixie State University in St. George, UT, and Snow College in Ephraim, UT, with a total student enrollment of 359, 828.

The Book of Mormon Ø A narrative supposedly covering a period of time from 600 BC to 421 AD chronicling two groups of people who traveled by sea from the Bible lands to the Americas. One the Jeredites who populated Central America but were eventually destroyed. The second group were Jewish decedents from the tribe of Manasseh. Ø According to the Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi of the tribe of Manasseh warned the people of impending captivity if they did not repent. Lehi was rejected and he and his family were forced to leave Jerusalem. Arriving on the Arabian Peninsula God told them to build vessels and set sail with provisions and the brass plates containing the Old Testament up to Jeremiah. Landing in the Americas they found cows oxen, donkeys horses, goats, gold, silver and copper. Ø After Lehi’s death his family split into two camps—one following righteous Nephi and the other following the not so righteous Laman. The Nephites built great cities of wealth and splendor. However, they often fell into sin and the invading Lamanites would overrun them, but prophets would usually bring them back to God. A curse was placed on the Lamanites of a “swarthy skin. ” The Lamanites are the ancestors of the American Indians. And these eventually kill off all the Nephites in a series of wars. Ø Between His death and ascension, Jesus appears to the Nephites. Christ also chose 12 disciples from among them. To them Jesus repeated the sermon on the mount, and gave more teachings. Ø The records of the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites as well as the appearances of Jesus were recorded by Moroni, the son of Mormon in an ancient language. He then hid them in a cave in the hill Cumorah near Palmyra, New York in 421 AD.

Joseph Smith Ø Joseph Smith was born in Vermont in 1805, and his family moved to New York in 1817. Ø At age 20, Smith—described in court records as "Joseph the glass looker“ (the ability to find hidden treasures by looking at a stone)—faced his first criminal charge, a misdemeanor count of being a "disorderly person. " Ø On March 20, 1826, Smith was arrested brought to court in Bainbridge, New York, on the complaint of Josiah Stowell's nephew, who accused Smith of being “a disorderly person and an imposter, ” Ø A swindler who began a religion! Ø A polygamist with 40 wives, some under the age of 14.

Joseph Smith Ø Joseph Smith claimed that between 1827 and 1829 Moroni (now an angel) appeared to him and revealed the plates to him. Then by the “power of God” and by some miraculous stones (Urim and Thummim) and occasionally “seer stones” he allegedly translated these into English. Ø Smith (uneducated and basically illiterate) needed a scribe so he duped a neighbor named Martin Harris to write as Smith “translated. ” Harris sat on one side of a blanket hung across the kitchen, and Smith sat on the other with his “translation stones, ” talking through the blanket. As if to make this an even happier scene, Harris warned that if he tried to glimpse the plates, or look at the prophet, he would be struck dead.

Joseph Smith Ø Some “hidden facts” about the Book of Mormon include these: 1. There are several identical phrases in the Book of Mormon that were first in a 1775 book by James Adair called “A History of the American Indian. ” 2. Evidence shows that the Book of Mormon was partly based on a book by Ethan Smith called: “View of the Hebrews or Tribes of Israel in America. ” 3. Sidney Rigdon (a friend of Joseph Smith) stole the manuscript of a novel by Solomon Spaulding written in 1812 from a print shop in Pittsburgh that contained the exact story line of the Book of Mormon without the emphasis on the religious. (This mms is now at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio).

Joseph Smith Ø On June 27, 1844, an armed mob with blackened faces stormed Carthage Jail where Joseph and his brother Hyrum were being held. Hyrum, who was trying to secure the door, was killed instantly with a shot to the face. Smith fired a pistol that a friend had lent him for self-defense, then ran for the window. He was shot multiple times before falling out the window, crying, "Oh Lord my God!" He died shortly after hitting the ground, but was shot several times more before the mob dispersed. Ø Five men were later tried for his murder, but all were acquitted. Ø Smith was buried in Nauvoo, IL in the Smith Family Cemetery.

Some Abhorrent Theology LDS claim the heavens and earth were created by a council of Gods. • “the Council of the Eternal God of all other gods before this world was” (D&C 121: 32). • The Gods plan the creation of the earth and all life thereon” (Po. GP: Abraham 4: Heading). • ”And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth. ” (Po. GP: Abraham 4: 1) • Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! (Deut 6: 4). • Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. (Mk 12: 29). • In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1: 1).

Some Abhorrent Theology LDS teaches that God has a body of flesh and bones. • “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us. ” (D&C 130: 22) • The official LDS teaching book, Gospel Principles, teaches that God “was once a man like us. ” • God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. ” (John 4: 24). • These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you. . . (Psa 50: 21).

Some Abhorrent Theology Joseph Smith, the founder of the LDS church, taught that God began His existence the same way as all men did - He was created and lived a mortal life as a man on “an earth. ” The principle is still taught by the LDS church, as seen in Gospel Principles. • “This is the way our Heavenly Father became God. Joseph Smith taught: “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God. . He was once a man like us; . . . God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did. ” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345 -46). ” • Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. (Psa 93: 2). • Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. (Psa 90: 2)

Bible Book of Mormon Church began in 33 AD Mt 16: 18 Ac 2 Church began in 147 BC, Mosiah 18: 17 Bible Church began in 33 AD Mt 16: 18 Acts 2 Book of Mormon church began in 147 BC, Mosiah 18: 17 "disciples were first called"disciples Christians in Alma 46: 13 -16 supposedly written in 46: 13 -16 were first called supposedly written in Christians in Antioch" 40 AD, Acts 11: 26 73 BC refers to Nephites as Christians. 73 BC refers to 40 AD, Acts 11: 26 Jesus is only head of church Col 1: 18 "Jesus was born in Bethlehem" Mt 2: 1 + Mt 21: 17 Nephites as Christians. Joe Smith is head of Joe is head of Mormon church Mormon. Smith church D&C 28: 2 -6 "He shall be born of Mary at Jerusalem" Alma 7: 10 "Jesus was born in Bethlehem" Mt 2: 1 "He shall be born of Mary at Jerusalem" 3 Days of darkness at Alma 7: 10 + Mt 21: 17 3 hours of darkness at crucifixion Lk 23: 44 3 hours of darkness at crucifixion Lk is spirit without flesh 23: 44 God &bones Jn 4: 24; Lk 24: 39 crucifixion Hel 14: 2027 3 Days of darkness at crucifixion Helaman 14: 20 -27 God has flesh and bones like man: D&C 130: 22 God is spirit without flesh &bones Jn God has flesh and bones like man: D&C 4: 24; Lk 24: 39 130: 22

Answering Worksheet Questions 1. What warning is given in Galatians 1: 8 -9 about additional revelation? 2. When questioned about additional revelation (the Book of Mormon) Mormons will refer to Ezekiel 37: 15 -17 as proof that God intended to add the Book of Mormon to the New Testament. Their claim goes like this: The stick of Judah is the New Testament and the stick of Ephraim is the Book of Mormon, and they are to be joined together. In a study with Mormons, how would you answer and refute this claim? 3. Astonishingly the LDS Church believes and teaches that God has flesh and blood like you and me (Bo. M, Ether 3: 6 -8; D & C, 130: 22). What did Jesus say about the nature of God in John 4: 24? i. What does it mean that God created man in His image (Genesis 1: 26 -27)?

Answering Worksheet Questions 4. In their sixth Article of Faith they say: 6. “We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. ” This sounds good but it is deceptive. They actually believe that the church has living apostles, prophets, seventies, high priests, and so forth (The Articles of Faith, Talmage, pg. 199). The actual head of the Mormon Church is the “First Presidency, ” followed by the “Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. ” Then the “Presidency of the Seventy, ” followed by the “Seventy. ” Local Mormon Churches (called either Wards or Branches) are governed by a bishop assisted by “by two counselors, an executive secretary, clerks, and the leaders of other organizations in the ward. ” i. Who is the head of the church of Christ (Eph 1: 22 -23; Eph 5: 23)? ii. What is the organization of a local church of Christ (Phil 1: 1)? iii. What was the requirements one must have met in order to be selected as an apostle (Acts 1: 20 -22)? ?

Answering Worksheet Questions 5. The official position of the LDS is this: “Many people. . . have died without being baptized. . . Because God is merciful, He has prepared a way for all people to receive the blessings of baptism. By performing proxy baptisms in behalf of those who have died. . . These individuals in the next life can then choose to accept or decline what has been done in their behalf. ” This is based upon their misapplication of 1 Cor 15: 29. Study that verse (within its context) and then tell how you would refute Mormon’s proxy baptism?