A Brief History of Mormonism

Text: Jude 3-21

 

I.         It is not politically correct to speak against another person’s religion.

            A.        As a result many people don’t know much about the religion of another person - Hosea 4:6

            B.        But how do we deal with the idea that one church is as good as another if we don’t know why there are different churches.

            C.        Instead of willful ignorance, we are going to examine today the beliefs of the Church of Christ of the Latter Day Saints, also known as Mormons because their bible is call the Book of Mormon.

                        1.         Most of the information will be presented from the Mormons’ own documents.

II.        Unlike most denominations, the Church of Christ of the Latter Day Saints have supplements to the Bible that, in practice, overrides the teachings in the Bible.

            A.        Joseph Smith claimed that on September 21, 1823, the angel Moroni told him that some golden plates were buried in Cumorah, New York, a hill in his neighborhood.

                        1.         The plates supposedly told of the contact of native American tribes, under fictitious names, had with Jesus Christ.

                        2.         Further, Smith claimed that the plates were written “Reformed Egyptian.” But we don’t have to worry about the language, Smith claimed to have been miraculous given the ability to translated the plates into English.

                        3.         Several people claimed to have seen the plates, but surprisingly most of them fell away from Mormonism before their deaths.

            B.        What isn’t often mentioned is that Joseph Smith had a history of being a charlatan

                        1.         He liked to claim he had peep stones or magic talismans that allowed him to find buried treasure.

                        2.         In 1826, he was tried in court because in those days claims of using mystical practices was against the law. He was found guilty, but avoided sentencing by agreeing to leave the area. [Abram W. Benton, "Mormonites,." Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, Vol. II. Utica, N.Y., April 9, 1831. p.120].

                        3.         Martin Harris tells us, "I...was picking my teeth with a pin while sitting on the bars. The pin caught in my teeth and dropped from my fingers into shavings and straw... We could not find it. I then took Joseph on surprise, and said to him--I said, 'Take your stone.' ... He took it and placed it in his hat--the old white hat--and place his face in his hat. I watched him closely to see that he did not look to one side; he reached out his hand beyond me on the right, and moved a little stick and there I saw the pin, which he picked up and gave to me. I know he did not look out of the hat until after he had picked up the pin.” [Tiffany's Monthly, June 1859, p. 163].

                        4.         Martin Harris also tells us that Joseph used the seer stone to find the gold plates. "In this stone he could see many things to my certain knowledge. It was by means of this stone he first discovered these plates."[Tiffany's Monthly, June 1859, p. 163].

                        5.         He never fully gave it up; he had a Jupiter talisman on him when he died. (See overhead).

                        6.         Mormons are not concerned by this. They state that it would only be a problem if he was faking it. But since they believe he had the ability to use seer stones, there is no theological difficulties.

            C.        The Book of Mormon was published in 1830

                        1.         It claims to be a further revelation of Jesus Christ

                        2.         It intermixes biblical facts with unsupported claims. For example it states that two people, Lehi and Nehi dwelt in Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah. Zedekiah was a king in Jerusalem, but Lehi and Nehi are imaginary characters.

                        3.         If you ask those young Mormon “elders” who come to your door what evidence do they have that this book is legitimate, they will urge you to "pray fervently and God will convict you of its truth."

                                    a.         This, of course, is not how God ever asked people to accept His word - Isaiah 41:21-24

                                    b.         Do not believe every spirit - I John 4:1

                        4.         The book does offer the testimony of witnesses, but as we noted earlier, almost all of these men left the Mormon faith before their deaths.

                                    a.         (See overhead) This is a copy from the 1830 edition.

                                    b.         Note that the misspellings are in the original document. I marked the changes made in the 1980 edition.

                                    c.         Compare to the witnesses of the Bible - John 17:12

            D.        Though the claim is that the Book of Mormon is from God, it has had thousands of changes since its first publication.

                        1.         To cover, the Mormons used to buy old copies and destroy them.

                        2.         But even the Book of Mormon states: “And now if there are faults, they are the mistakes of men; wherefore condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.”

                                    a.         Compare to the Bible - Matthew 5:18

                        3.         (See overhead). An example is from Alama 15, page 303: “Yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills.”

                                    a.         Starting in 1840, later editions, which now refer to this quote as Alama 29:4, dropped the highlighted words.

                                    b.         Starting in 1981, the words were put back. Notice that the old English style was drastically changed.

                                    c.         Ironic considering what the words say.

                        4.         (See overhead). Doctrines and Covenants is a collection of prophecies made by Joseph Smith.

                                    a.         Notice that this one claims that God revokes commands.

                                    b.         But poor Ezra. The commandment was revoked, but if he still has to obey it after he repents.

                                    c.         God doesn’t change - Malachi 3:6

                                    d.         God’s judgments endures forever - Psalm 119:160

III.       Other Problems

            A.        Mormonism is scientifically inaccurate

                        1.         Brigham Young prophesied of men on the moon and sun [Journal of Discourses, Vol. 13, p. 271] (see overhead).

                        2.         According to Oliver Huntington, Joseph Smith even taught that there were men on the moon. He states that they are very tall, about six feet, dress in Quaker-style clothing and live to be about 1000 years old. (Journal of Oliver B. Huntington Vol. 2, pg. 166).

                        3.         Compare to the accuracy of the Bible

                                    a.         The earth hangs on nothing - Job 26:7

                                    b.         The earth is round - Isaiah 40:22

            B.        Anachronism

                        1.         The end of the book of Jacob says, “Brethren, adieu.” (Jacob 7:27).

                                    a.         Supposedly this takes place somewhere between 544 and 421 B.C.

                                    b.         French among the American Indians at that date!

            C.        False Prophecies

                        1.         Joseph Smith prophesied several times that the world would end in 1890, after he reaches the age of 85. He didn’t live nearly that long. Smith died in 1844. (See overhead)

                                    a.         But Smith did expect to see the end of the world. On January 23, 1833, Smith said, "I asked of him a father's blessing, which he granted by laying his hands upon my head, in the name of Jesus Christ, and declaring that I should continue in the Priest's office until Christ comes." [History of the Church, Vol. I, p. 323].

                                    b.         Compare to Matthew 24:36

                        2.         Bingham Young stated that the Civil War would not free the slaves.

                                    a.         Mormons try to side step this by saying the slaves weren’t freed until after the Civil War ended!

                        3.         Then there was the plan to build a temple and city in Jackson County, Missouri. (See overhead)

                                    a.         It never happened.

                                    b.         Notice that it was to happen in that generation.

                                    c.         Notice what this next one says.

                        4.         This next one (see overhead) is interesting because David Patten didn’t make the mission. He died in October of that year. He didn’t live to “next spring.”

IV.      Lies about the Revelation

            A.        Parley Pratt, a Mormon apostle claimed there were no revisions (see overhead)

            B.        In 1961, Jerald and Sandra Tanner offered to microfilm the Mormon’s historical documents. They were given Wilford Woodruff’s original copy of Book of Commandments, which was later renamed to Doctrine and Covenants. They were only able to copy 41 pages before someone realized that they did not want this book copied, for obvious reasons. Here are two of the pages from The Case Against Mormonism (see overhead).

            C.        It is obvious that this book wasn’t inspired and that Parley Pratt was lying - II Timothy 3:13-17

            D.        What Paul was concerned about has happened - II Corinthians 11:1-4

V.        The Character of Joseph Smith

            A.        (See overhead). This was from a speech Joseph Smith gave.

                        1.         Compare to Paul’s attitude - II Corinthians 4:1-7

                        2.         Paul warned of men like Smith - II Timothy 3:1-5

            B.        (See overhead of the photocopy of the Journal of Discourses) Notice in this one is the claim that Joseph Smith controls who enters heaven.

            C.        Jesus stated that we can recognize false prophets by what they do - Matthew 7:15-20

            D.        Polygamy

                        1.         Joseph Smith’s brother, Hyrum, thought they could convince Joseph’s wife to accept plural marriages. (See overhead)

                        2.         Now women, if your brother-in-law came to you with such an idea, what do you think would happen?

                        3.         Yes, a tongue lashing! (See overhead)

                        4.         The official stance was that the church was against polygamy (see overhead)

                        5.         But like others before him and since, Joseph Smith didn’t feel bound by the same rules.

                        6.         Predictably, the women in Mormonism put up a fuss. Brigham Young finally issued an ultimatum. (See overhead).

                        7.         This explains some of the Mormons ridiculous and blasphemous teachings (see overhead)

                        8.         By the way, I mentioned Parley Pratt, the Mormon apostle earlier. He was in the paper not long ago because his descendants were looking for his grave. He was buried in Arkansas after the estranged husband of the woman he took as his 12^th wife killed him - Proverbs 6:32-35

            E.        Bank Fraud

                        1.         Smith wanted to set up a bank, but the state refused him a charter.

                        2.         So Smith called it an anti-bank and started issuing bank notes (see overhead)

                        3.         Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were tried for violating the banking laws, found guilty, and fined $1000 each.

VI.      The Death of Joseph Smith

            A.        In Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith set himself up as mayor of the town. The majority of the city council were made of Mormons. Joseph Smith was also attempting to run for President of the United States.

            B.        A group of ex-Mormons, lead by William Law, started an anti-Mormon paper called the Nauvoo Expositor. Law had been offended when Smith tried to seduce his wife into a plural marriage arrangement. Law apparently confronted his wife and she confirmed that Smith had “revealed” to her that half her love was for her husband and half for Smith.

                        1.         The paper only managed to print one edition.

            C.        The Mormon dominated city council declared the paper a “public nuisance” and ordered it destroyed. This set up a cry of violation of freedom of the press.

            D.        Warrants were issued against Smith by the governor of Illinois, but Smith used a writ of Habeas Corpus to invalidate them in the Nauvoo court.

            E.        Because of the large outcry against him and the real possibility of war, Smith declared martial law and called out the Nauvoo Legion, a militia of about 5,000 men.

            F.        The Illinois governor offered safe passage to Smith for a trial at Carthange before a non-Mormon jury. Smith reluctantly agreed – not that he had much choice.

            G.        At the preliminary hearing, the city council members were released on bail, but Joseph and Hyrum Smith were charged with treason and held without bail.

            H.        Two days later a mob of 200 men stormed the jail. Cyrus Wheelock had snuck a pistol in to Joseph Smith earlier that day. When the mob attacked, Hyrum was shot in the face and died.

            I.         "I shall never forget the deep feeling of sympathy and regard manifested in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him, exclaimed, 'Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!' He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly, and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterwards understood that two or three were WOUNDED by these discharges, TWO of whom, I am informed DIED." [History of the Church, Vol. 7, pp. 103].

            J.         The Mormons would like to compare Joseph Smith’s death with Jesus, but there is no comparison - John 10:17-18

                        1.         When a mob came to arrest Jesus, he gave no resistence and forbad attacking back - John 18:3-12

VII.     Smith died to protect his life and possibly to avenge his brother’s death. Jesus laid down his life so that you and I might live.

            A.        Who would you rather follow? The egotistical polygamist or the sinless Son of God?

            B.        Who Joseph Smith was and what he stood for is well documented even by the group he founded. Yet, there are a lot of people who prefer this to the truth - II Timothy 4:3-4

            C.        Don’t be one of them.

Based on a study by Jerry Blount