Mormonism
Does It Pass God's 3-Question Test for Truth?
Question #1: A Different God
The first of God's three questions asks what the person or
religion teaches about God. If a prophet gives a sign that comes
true, yet he preaches a god other than the true God as He revealed
Himself in the Bible, he is a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
We must not follow him! If Mormonism's God is wrong, Mormonism
is a false religion, even if a sign (such as a burning in
the bosom) seems to say that it is true.
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams,
and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder
come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after
other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that
dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know
whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with
all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear
him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall
serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer
of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn
you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out
of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage,
to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded
thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst
of thee. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)
The Bible teaches that there is only one God. God has always
been God. God created all things. The following Bible quotations
explain the correct teachings about God for use in testing a
prophet or religion.
There is only one God
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant
whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand
that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither
shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD;
and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared,
and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange
god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith
the LORD, that I am God. (Isaiah 43:10-12, emphasis added)
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the
LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last;
and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall
call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since
I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming,
and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not, neither
be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared
it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God
beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
(Isaiah 44:6-8, emphasis added)
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are
offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is
nothing in the world, and that there is none other
God but one. (1 Corinthians 8:4, emphasis added)
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the
LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
(Deuteronomy 4:35)
Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart,
that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the
earth beneath: there is none else. (Deuteronomy 4:39)
See now that I, even I, am he, and there
is no god with me.... (Deuteronomy 32:39)
Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee
from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things;
that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad
the earth by myself; (Isaiah 44:24, emphasis added)
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there
is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun,
and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am
the LORD, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:5-6, emphasis
added)
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself
that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he
created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am
the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in
secret, in a dark place of the earth ...who hath declared this
from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have
not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a
just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am
God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:18-22)
Remember the former things of old: for I am God,
and there is none else; I am God, and there
is none like me, (Isaiah 46:9, emphasis added)
There is none holy as the LORD: for there is
none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
(1 Samuel 2:2)
Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is
none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee,
according to all that we have heard with our ears. (2 Samuel
7:22)
For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a
rock, save our God? (2 Samuel 22:32)
That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is
God, and that there is none else. (1 Kings 8:60)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
For there is one God, and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus; (1 Timothy 2:5)
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before
of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the
grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord
God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 4)
God has always been God
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. (Psalms 90:2, emphasis added)
Thy throne is established of old: thou art
from everlasting. (Psalms 93:2, emphasis added)
Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant
of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art
our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
(Isaiah 63:16)
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he
come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
(Micah 5:2)
Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine
Holy One?.... (Habakkuk 1:12)
God as taught by Mormonism
The Bible teaches that there is only one God. God has always
been God, and He created the whole universe. The following quotes
are Mormonism's teachings about God. Is the God of Mormonism
identical to the God of the Bible?
Joseph Smith's teachings about God
I will preach on the plurality of Gods.... I wish to declare
I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on
the subject of Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods.
It has been preached by the elders for fifteen years ... we have
three Gods anyhow, and they are plural: and who can contradict
it? (Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled
by Alma L. Burton, 1977, page 35, emphasis added)
God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man....
We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity.
I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you
may see ... he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself,
the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ
himself did... and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves,
and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have
done before you.... (Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
compiled by Alma L. Burton, 1977, pages 340-341)
Brigham Young's teachings about God
Gods exist, and we had better strive to be prepared to be
one with them. (Discourses of Brigham Young, compiled
by John A. Widtsoe, 1978, page 227)
He is our Father - the Father of our spirits, and was once
a man in mortal flesh as we are, and is now an exalted Being.
How many Gods there are, I do not know. But there never was
a time when there were not Gods..... (Journal of Discourses,
volume 7, page 333)
The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods
like Himself .... We are create, we are born for the express
purpose of growing up from the low estate of manhood, to become
Gods like unto our Father in heaven. (Journal of Discourses,
volume 3, page 93)
Other Mormon teachings about God
In spite of the opposition of the sects, in the face of direct
charges of blasphemy, the Church proclaims the eternal truth:
"As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be."
(The Articles of Faith, James E. Talmage, 1982, page 430,
emphasis in original)
Three separate personages - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost -
comprise the Godhead. As each of these persons is a God, it is
evident, from this standpoint alone, that a plurality of Gods
exists. To us, speaking in the proper finite sense, these three
are the only Gods we worship. But in addition there is an infinite
number of holy personages, drawn from worlds without number,
who have passed on to exaltation and are thus gods ... there
is "a god above the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ....
(Mormon Doctrine, 2nd Edition, Bruce R. McConkie, 1966,
pages 576-577, emphasis in original)
There is no end to this development: it will go on forever.
We will become gods and have jurisdiction over worlds, and
these worlds will be peopled by our own offspring ... our
Father in heaven was once a man as we are now, capable of physical
death. By obedience to eternal gospel principles, he progressed
from one stage of life to another until he attained the state
that we call exaltation or godhood. In such a condition, he and
our mother in heaven were empowered to give birth to spirit children
whose potential was equal to that of their heavenly parents.
We are those spirit children. (Achieving A Celestial Marriage,
student manual, 1976, page 132, emphasis in original)
Christ Performed His Atonement so That We Could Become
Gods (Achieving A Celestial Marriage, student manual,
1976, page 136, emphasis in original)
Summary
Mormonism teaches the following false ideas about God. God
was originally a man. He became a god later. He is only one god
among thousands. Created things existed before the Mormon god
became a god; therefore, he did not create all things. People
who now live on earth can also become gods in the future. The
number of gods continues to increase. Some gods became gods before
the Mormon god became a god. Others will become gods after he
became a god.
The Bible teachings about God are very different. God has
always been God and, therefore, was not a human being before
He became God. He created all things. There are absolutely
no true Gods in addition to the one God of the Bible. There will
be no new gods added in the future. (There are many false gods,
but only one true God.)
Mormonism teaches a different god than the God of the Bible.
This evidence alone proves that Mormonism is a false religion!
Occasionally, you may encounter a Mormon who claims that the
Bible teaches that there are many gods. One of the texts used
to "prove" this is 1 Corinthians 8:5. The part which
says, "... there be gods many ...." is quoted to support
Mormonism's polytheistic (i.e., many gods) teachings. However,
reading the entire quote proves the error of Mormon teachings
about God.
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are
offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is
nothing in the world, and that there is none other
God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether
in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are
all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
are all things, and we by him. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6,
emphasis added)
This passage says that there are many who are called gods
(i.e., idols), but there is only one true God.
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