Until recently, the missionaries were required to present Mormonism in six "discussions", which were a series of memorized sales talks. They are now encouraged simply to "follow the spirit" in their presentations. The basic message and approach, however, is still essentially the same. A thorough, thoughtful and balanced discussion of each of the six "official" lessons as the missionaries formerly presented them to investigators is at http://www.lds4u.com, together with the techniques and strategies which the missionaries are instructed to use. (The actual texts of the discussions were also on this site at one time, but the Mormon church threatened the webmaster with a lawsuit, and he removed them; click on "next" at each window to read a summary and commentary.)Here is a summary of important facts about the Mormon church, its doctrine, and its history that the missionaries will probably not tell you. We are not suggesting that they are intentionally deceiving you --most of the young Mormons serving missions for the church are not well educated in the history of the church or in modern critical studies of the church. They probably do not know the all the facts themselves. They have been trained, however, to give investigators "milk before meat," that is, to postpone revealing anything at all that might make an investigator hesitant, even if it is true. But you should be aware of these facts before you commit yourself.
Each of the following facts has been substantiated by thorough historical scholarship. And this list is by no means exhaustive! For links to articles substantiating each of these points, CLICK on the word NOTES following the item.
- The "First Vision" story in the form presented to you was unknown until
1838, eighteen years after its alleged occurrence and almost ten
years after Smith had begun his missionary efforts. The oldest (but quite different) version of
the vision is in Smith's own handwriting, dating from about 1832 (still at
least eleven years afterwards), and says that only one
personage, Jesus Christ, appeared to him. It also mentions nothing about a
revival. It also contradicts the later account as to whether Smith had
already decided that no church was true. Still a third version of this
event is recorded as a recollection in Smith's diary, fifteen years after
the alleged vision, where one unidentified "personage" appeared, then
another, with a message implying that neither was the Son. They were
accompanied by many "angels," which are not mentioned in the official version
you have been told about. Which version is correct, if any? Why was this
event, now said
by the church to be so important, unknown for so long? NOTES
- Careful study of the religious history of the locale where Smith lived
in 1820 casts doubt on whether there actually was such an extensive revival
that year as Smith and his family later described as associated with the
"First Vision." The revivals in 1817 and 1824 better fit what Smith described
later. NOTES
- In 1828, eight
years after he supposedly had been told by God himself to join no church, Smith
applied for membership in a local Methodist church. Other members of his
family had joined the Presbyterians. NOTES
- Contemporaries of Smith consistently described him as
something of a confidence man, whose chief source of income was hiring out
to local farmers to help them find buried treasure by the use of folk magic
and "seer stones." Smith was actually tried in 1826 on a charge of
money digging. NOTES
It is interesting that none of his critics seemed to be aware of his
claim to have been visited by God in 1820, even though in his 1838
account he claimed that he had suffered "great persecution" for telling
people of his vision.
- The only persons who claimed to have actually seen the gold plates were
eleven close friends of Smith (many of them related to each other). Their
testimonies are printed in the front of every copy of the Book of
Mormon. No disinterested third party was ever allowed to examine them.
They were retrieved by the angel at some unrecorded point. Most of the
witnesses later abandoned Smith and left his movement. Smith then called
them "liars." NOTES
- Smith produced most of the "translation" not by reading the plates
through the Urim and Thummim (described as a pair of sacred spectacles), but
by gazing at the same "seer stone" he had used for treasure hunting. He
would place the stone into his hat, and then cover his face with it. For much
of the time he was dictating, the gold plates were not even present, but
in a hiding place. NOTES
- The detailed history and civilization described in the Book of
Mormon does not correspond to anything found by archaeologists anywhere
in the Americas. The Book of Mormon describes a civilization lasting
for a thousand years, covering both North and South America, which was
familiar with horses, elephants, cattle, sheep, wheat, barley, steel,
wheeled vehicles, shipbuilding, sails, coins, and other elements of Old World
culture. But no trace of any of these supposedly very common things has
ever been found in the Americas of that period. Nor does the Book of
Mormon mention many of the features of the civilizations which really did
exist at that time in the Americas. The LDS church has spent millions of
dollars over many years trying to prove through archaeological research
that the Book of Mormon is an accurate historical record, but they
have failed to produce any convincing pre-columbian archeological evidence
supporting the Book of Mormon story. In addition, whereas the Book
of Mormon presents the picture of a relatively homogeneous people, with
a single language and communication between distant parts of the Americas,
the pre-columbian history of the Americas shows the opposite: widely
disparate racial types (almost entirely east Asian - definitely not
Semitic, as proven by recent DNA studies), and many unrelated native languages, none of which are even
remotely related to Hebrew or Egyptian.
NOTES
- The people of the Book of Mormon were supposedly devout Jews
observing the Law of Moses, but in the Book of Mormon there is almost
no trace of their observance of Mosaic law or even an accurate knowledge of
it. NOTES
- Although Joseph Smith said that God had pronounced the completed
translation of the plates as published in 1830 "correct," many changes have
been made in later editions. Besides thousands of corrections of poor
grammar and awkward wording in the 1830 edition, other changes have been
made to reflect subsequent changes in some of the fundamental doctrine of
the church. For example, an early change in wording modified the 1830
edition's acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity, thus allowing Smith to
introduce his later doctrine of multiple gods. A more recent change (1981)
replaced "white" with "pure," apparently to reflect the change in the
church's stance on the "curse" of the black race. NOTES
- Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon contained the "fulness
of the gospel." However, its teaching on many doctrinal subjects has been
ignored or contradicted by the present LDS church, and many doctrines now said
by the church to be essential are not even mentioned there. Examples are
the church's position on the nature of God, the Virgin Birth, the Trinity,
polygamy, Hell, priesthood, secret organizations, the nature of Heaven and
salvation, temples, proxy ordinances for the dead, and many other matters.
NOTES
- Many of the basic historical notions found in the Book of Mormon had
appeared in print already in 1825, just two years before Smith began
producing the Book of Mormon, in a book called View of the
Hebrews, by Ethan Smith (no relation) and published just a few miles
from where Joseph Smith lived. A careful study of this obscure book led one
LDS church official (the historian B. H. Roberts, 1857-1933) to confess that
the evidence tended to show that the Book of Mormon was not an
ancient record, but concocted by Joseph Smith himself, based on ideas he had
read in the earlier book. NOTES
- Although Mormons claim that God is guiding the LDS church through its president (who has the title "prophet, seer and revelator"), the successive "prophets" have repeatedly either led the church into undertakings that were dismal failures or failed to see approaching disaster. To mention only a few: the Kirtland Bank, the United Order, the gathering of Zion to Missouri, the Zion's Camp expedition, polygamy, the Deseret Alphabet NOTES.
- A recent example is the
successful hoax perpetrated on the church by manuscript dealer Mark Hofmann in
the 1980s. He succeeded in selling the church thousands of dollars worth
of manuscripts which he had forged. The church and its "prophet, seer and revelator" accepted them as genuine
historical documents. The church leaders learned the truth not from God,
through revelation, but from non-Mormon experts and the police, after
Hofmann was arrested for two murders he committed to cover up his hoax.
This scandal was reported nationwide. NOTES
- The secret temple ritual (the "endowment") was introduced by Smith in
May, 1842, just two months after he had been initiated into Freemasonry.
The LDS temple ritual closely resembles the Masonic ritual of that day.
NOTES Smith explained that the
Masons had corrupted the ancient (God-given) ritual by changing it and
removing parts of it, and that he was restoring it to its "pure" and
"original" (and complete) form, as revealed to him by God. In the years
since, the LDS church has made many fundamental changes in the "pure and
original" ritual as "restored" by Smith, mostly by removing major parts of it.
NOTES
- Many doctrines which were once taught by the LDS church, and held to be
fundamental, essential and "eternal", have been abandoned. Whether we feel
that the church was correct in abandoning them is not the point; rather, the
point is that a church claiming to be the church of God takes one
"everlasting" position at one time and the opposite position at another, all
the time claiming to be proclaiming the word of God. Some examples are:
- The Adam-God doctrine (Adam is God the Father); NOTES
- the United Order (all property of church members is to be held in common, with title in the church);
- Plural Marriage (polygamy; a man must have more than one wife to attain the highest degree of heaven); NOTES
- the Curse of Cain (the black race is not entitled to hold God's priesthood because it is cursed; this doctrine was not abandoned until 1978); NOTES
- Blood Atonement (some sins - apostasy, adultery, murder, interracial marriage - must be atoned for by the shedding of the sinner's blood, preferably by someone appointed to do so by church authorities); NOTES
All of these doctrines were proclaimed by the reigning prophet to be the Word of God, "eternal," "everlasting," to govern the church "forevermore." All have been abandoned by the present church.
- Joseph Smith's early revelations were collected and first published in 1833 in the Book of Commandments. God (as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants Sections 1 and 67) supposedly testified by revelation that the revelations as published were true and correct. Because the Book of Commandments
did not receive wide distribution (most copies were destroyed by angry
opponents of the Mormons in Missouri, where it was published), they
were republished - with additional revelations - as the Doctrine and Covenants
in 1835 in Kirtland, Ohio. However, many of the revelations as
published in Kirtland differed fundamentally from their versions as
originally given. The changes generally gave more power and authority
to Smith, and justified changes he was making in church organization
and theology. The question naturally arises as to why revelations which
God had pronounced correct needed to be revised. NOTES
- Joseph Smith claimed to have received the priesthood (the only
valid priesthood recognized by God) directly from resurrected beings
(angels): the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist and the
Mechizedek (higher) Priesthood from Peter, James and John. However, the
accounts of these visitations are contradictory and questionable.
NOTES
- Joseph Smith claimed to be a "translator" by the power of God. In
addition to the Book of Mormon, he made several other "translations":
- The Book of Abraham, from Egyptian papyrus scrolls which came into his possession in 1835. He stated that the scrolls were written by the biblical Abraham "by his own hand." Smith's translation is now accepted as scripture by the LDS church, as part of its Pearl of Great Price. Smith also produced an "Egyptian Grammar" based on his translation. Modern scholars of ancient Egyptian agree that the scrolls are common Egyptian funeral scrolls, entirely pagan in nature, having nothing to do with Abraham, and from a period 2000 years later than Abraham. The "Grammar" has been said by Egyptologists to prove that Smith had no notion of the Egyptian language. It is pure fantasy: he made it up. NOTES
- The "Inspired Revision" of the King James Bible. Smith was commanded by God to retranslate the Bible because the existing translations contained errors. He completed his translation in 1833, but the church still uses the King James Version. NOTES
- The "Kinderhook Plates," a group of six metal plates with strange engraved characters, unearthed in 1843 near Kinderhook, Illinois, and examined by Smith, who began a "translation" of them. He never completed the translation, but he identified the plates as an "ancient record," and translated enough to identify the author as a descendant of Pharaoh. Local farmers later confessed that they had manufactured, engraved and buried the plates themselves as a hoax. They had apparently copied the characters from a Chinese tea box. NOTES
- Joseph Smith claimed to be a "prophet." He frequently
prophesied future events "by the power of God." Many of these prophecies
are recorded in the LDS scripture Doctrine and Covenants. Almost
none have been fulfilled, and many cannot now be fulfilled
because the deeds to be done by the persons named were never done and those
persons are now dead. Many prophecies included dates for their fulfillment,
and those dates are now long past, the events never having occurred.
NOTES
- Joseph Smith died not as a martyr, but in a gun battle in which he fired
a number of shots. He was in jail at the time, under arrest for having
ordered the destruction of a Nauvoo newspaper which dared to print an
exposure (which was true) of his secret sexual liaisons. At that time he
had announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States, set up
a secret government, and secretly had himself crowned "King of the Kingdom
of God." NOTES
- Since the founding of the church down to the present day the church
leaders have not hesitated to lie, to falsify documents, to rewrite or
suppress history, or to do whatever is necessary to protect the image of the
church. Many Mormon historians have been excommunicated from the church for
publishing their findings on the truth of Mormon history. NOTES
- Trying to determine the truth by relying entirely on the
feelings one gets after praying is not a reliable way to learn the
truth. One can easily deceive oneself into "feeling" something that is
really not true at all. The only reliable way to get to the truth is to
examine verifiable facts. NOTES
- Mormonism includes many other unusual teachings which you will
probably not be told about until you have been in the church for a long
time. These teachings are not revealed to investigators or new converts
because those people are not yet considered ready to have more than
"milk" as doctrine. The Mormons also probably realize that if
investigators knew of these unusual teachings they would not join the
church. In addition to those mentioned elsewhere in this article, the
following are noteworthy: NOTES
- God was once a man like us.
- God has a tangible body of flesh and bone.
- God lives on a planet near the star Kolob.
- God ("Heavenly Father") has at least one wife, our "Mother in Heaven," but she is so holy that we are not to discuss her nor pray to her.
- Jesus was married.
- We can become like God and rule over our own universe.
- There are many gods, ruling over their own worlds.
- Jesus and Satan ("Lucifer") are brothers, and they are our brothers - we are all spirit children of Heavenly Father
- Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Father by having sex with Mary, who was temporarily his wife.
- We should not pray to Jesus, nor try to feel a personal relationship with him.
- The "Lord" ("Jehovah") in the Old Testament is the being named Jesus in the New Testament, but different from "God the Father" ("Elohim").
- In the highest degree of the celestial kingdom some men will have more than one wife.
- Before coming to this earth we lived as spirits in a "pre-existence", during which we were tested; our position in this life (whether born to Mormons or savages, or in America or Africa) is our reward or punishment for our obedience in that life.
- Dark skin is a curse from God, the result of our sin, or the sin of our ancestors. If sufficiently righteous, a dark-skinned person will become light-skinned.
- The Garden of Eden was in Missouri. All humanity before the Great Flood lived in the western hemisphere. The Ark transported Noah and the other survivors to the eastern hemisphere.
- Not only will human beings be resurrected to eternal life, but also all animals - everything that has ever lived on earth - will be resurrected and dwell in heaven.
- Christ will not return to earth in any year that has seen a rainbow.
- Mormons should avoid traveling on water, since Satan rules the waters.
- The sun receives its light from the star Kolob.
- If a Gentile becomes Mormon, the Holy Ghost actually purges his Gentile blood and replaces it with Israelite blood.
- A righteous Mormon will actually see the face of God in the Mormon temple.
- You can identify a false angel by the color of his hair, or by offering to shake his hand.
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