Mormonism: Truth and Error Compared
This article is part of a series examining what various religious movements teach on seven foundational doctrines, compared with what the Bible actually says. Source material for cult positions is drawn from Keith L. Brooks and Irvine Robertson, "The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error" (Moody Press, 1985).
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), commonly called Mormonism, was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Smith claimed to have received additional scripture (the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) and new revelation that fundamentally redefines the God of the Bible, the nature of Jesus Christ, and the path to salvation. Mormonism is not a variant of Christianity but a separate religion with a different god, a different Jesus, and a different gospel. Citations below use abbreviations from the original source: AF = Articles of Faith (Talmage); DC = Doctrine and Covenants; MD = Mormon Doctrine (McConkie); GD = Gospel Doctrine (Smith).
1. God
What the Bible Teaches
There is one God, eternally self-existent, unchanging, omnipresent, incorporeal, and without beginning (Deuteronomy 4:35; Isaiah 44:6; Malachi 3:6; John 4:24). "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent" (Numbers 23:19). "Before the mountains were brought forth . . . even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psalm 90:2).
What Mormonism Teaches
"We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost" (Articles of Faith, 1). However: "This cannot rationally be construed to mean that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are one in substance and in person" (Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 40). "There are three Gods . . . separate in personality, united in purpose, in plan, and in all attributes of perfection" (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 670). "God is an organized being just as we are who are now in the flesh. He is a progressive being, and possesses the capacity of eternal increase. Perhaps once a child and mortal like ourselves" (Gospel Doctrine, p. 64; AF, p. 529; Journal of Discourses, 1:123). "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's" (Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22). God is not omnipresent — He cannot be "physically present in more than one place at a time" (Talmage, DC, p. 48). "Every man who reigns in celestial glory is a god to his dominions" (McConkie, MD, p. 322). "There never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds" (Young, Discourses, pp. 22–23). "Each god, through his wife or wives, raises up a numerous family of sons and daughters" (Pratt, The Seer, 1, no. 3, p. 37). "The doctrine of a plurality of Gods is prominent in the Bible. The heads of the Gods appointed our God for us" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 370–72).
2. Jesus Christ
What the Bible Teaches
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Jesus is the eternal, uncreated Son of God, not a spirit child or created being. He is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). He was born of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18–20), not by physical union.
What Mormonism Teaches
"Among the spirit children of Elohim, the firstborn was and is Jehovah or Jesus Christ, to whom all others are juniors" (Smith, GD, p. 70). "By obedience and devotion He attained to the pinnacle of intelligence which ranked him as a God, even in his pre-existent state" (McConkie, MD, p. 192). "Jesus Christ was the executive in the work of creation, aided by Michael (or Adam), Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, James, John, Joseph Smith, and others" (McConkie, MD, p. 169). "He was born of the virgin Mary. Elohim is literally the Father of the Spirit and of Jesus Christ, and also of the body" (Talmage, DC, p. 466). "He is essentially greater than all others, by reason of His unique status in the flesh as the offspring of a mortal mother and an immortal, or resurrected and glorified Father." "He died on the cross, rose again, and is coming again in power and glory to set up his kingdom on earth" (Talmage, DC, p. 472).
3. Holy Spirit
What the Bible Teaches
The Holy Spirit is a fully divine person of the Godhead — omnipresent, omniscient, and equal with the Father and Son (Matthew 28:19; John 14:16–17; Romans 8:26–27). He is not a separate, limited being.
What Mormonism Teaches
"The Holy Ghost is 'a personage of Spirit.' He does not have a body of flesh and bones, like the Father and the Son" (DC, 130:22). He is "the influence of deity, the light of Christ, or of Truth" (Smith, GD, p. 60). He "can only be in one place at one time" although he "emanates from Deity" like "electricity, or the universal ether which fills the earth and the air, and is everywhere present" (McConkie, MD, pp. 359, 753).
4. Sin
What the Bible Teaches
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Adam's fall brought death and condemnation to all humanity (Romans 5:12, 18–19). Sin is rebellion against a holy God and requires atonement — not merely correction or opportunity.
What Mormonism Teaches
"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy" (II Nephi 2:25). "Adam deliberately and wisely chose (to touch the forbidden tree) and partook of the fruit" (Talmage, DC, p. 65). "Adam cried, 'Because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy'" (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 5:10–11). "We ought to consider the fall of our first parents as one of the great steps to external exaltation and happiness" (Mormon Catechism). "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression" (AF, 2).
5. Redemption and Salvation
What the Bible Teaches
"We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Ephesians 1:7). "By grace are ye saved through faith . . . not of works" (Ephesians 2:8–9). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). Salvation is received by faith alone in Christ alone, not by ordinances, works, or organizational membership.
What Mormonism Teaches
"We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel" (AF, 3). "The first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: Faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; repentance; baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost" (AF, 4). "They who believe not your words, and are not baptized in water in my name, for the remission of their sins . . . shall be damned" (DC, 84:74). "Baptism is . . . the very gateway into the kingdom of heaven, an indispensable step in our salvation and exaltation" (Bennett, Why I Am a Mormon, p. 124). "Baptism by proxy for the dead is a major activity. 'The Saints are . . . redeeming their (unbaptized) dead from the grasp of Satan'" (Morgan, Plan of Salvation, p. 8). "Celestial marriage is the gate to an exaltation in the highest heaven within the celestial world" (McConkie, MD, p. 118). Those who attain the highest sphere, the Celestial, will "have spirit children in the resurrection, in relation to which offspring they stand in the same position that God our Father stands to us" (MD, p. 257). The second sphere, the Terrestrial, will be inhabited by "accountable persons who die without law" or who "did not accept the gospel" or LDS who "were not valiant" (MD, p. 784).
6. Retribution
What the Bible Teaches
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). The wicked face "everlasting punishment" (Matthew 25:46) and "everlasting destruction" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Hell is real and final for those who reject Christ.
What Mormonism Teaches
"Most of the adult people who have lived since Adam (having rejected Christ and lived wickedly) will go to the 'Telestial Kingdom'" (MD, p. 778). "Perdition is for Satan, and the Sons of Perdition, angels who rebelled with him. Also for men who commit the unpardonable sin" (Talmage, DC, p. 410). "'Endless punishment' is 'God's punishment' and may endure for one hour, one week, or one year, or an age" (Morgan, The Plan of Salvation).
All Bible quotations are from the King James Version. Cult citations are taken directly from the source documents as reproduced in Brooks and Robertson.