(Billy Wilson:)  Welcome to World Impact. I'm Billy Wilson and today World Impact is in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m sitting now just near Temple Square here in Salt Lake City. Behind me is the famous Mormon Temple here and near me is the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We’ve come here today to do a very unusual program for World Impact. In fact today we’re going to be talking about a subject called Unmasking Mormonism. We’re going to be looking beyond the surface of Mormonism. What we see in the 21st century is people that embrace family and have good moral values. We’re going to be looking at what Mormons really believe and what they teach. We’re going to be asking the question during this program, “Is Mormonism really Biblical Christianity?” The answers may surprise many people around the world. And so I want you to stay with me. If you’re like me you’re going to learn a lot during this program today and I believe you’re going to be blessed. Now as we share today if you’d like more information about Mormonism why don’t you call us at 1-800-95-SHARE or maybe today you just need prayer. You can go to our website, WorldImpact.tv. Connect with our ministry. Ask questions you may have or even make comments on this program. Today we’re going to be looking at what Mormons believe about God, about Scripture, about Jesus Christ, about man, and even about salvation. And as we come to the conclusion of this message I believe God is going to touch your heart to help you never be deceived by this particular religion. I want you to stay with me now and I’ll be back in just a moment to talk about Unmasking Mormonism.

(Announcer:)  Joseph Smith, born in 1805, grew up in western New York. At least three different historians, including Joseph’s own mother, talk about his youth spent using a seeing stone and animal sacrifice to locate buried treasure. Joseph was charged several times with witchcraft and fraud. Joseph claimed his searches paid off. In 1823 Joseph said an angel named Moroni showed him where gold tablets were buried which revealed the true revelation of God. Despite having no formal education, Joseph said he translated the tablets using the gift of God and his old seeing stone. The book was called the Book of Mormon after the angel Moroni. Smith said that Moroni took the plates back when the translation was complete. Such was the charisma of Joseph Smith that he gathered a large following to his teachings. As time went on his doctrine diverged more and more from historical Christianity and eventually became the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

(Billy Wilson:)  Today on World Impact we are in Utah. In fact I’m sitting now overlooking Salt Lake City. Behind me is Temple Square and the State Capitol building here in Salt Lake. Today we’re talking about Mormonism. In fact we’re calling this show Unmasking Mormonism. We’re going to talk about the LDS or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Who are they? What do they believe? And the real question is, “Are they Christian?” According to one of their scripture books called "The Pearl of Great Price," Mormonism began with a young teenager named Joseph Smith having a vision where he was supposedly told by Jesus that he was not to join any church because they were all wrong and the Christian church’s doctrines were an abomination. This was at a time at around 1820. Smith then said he had several visitations from an angel named Moroni who led him to a set of golden plates buried near his home of Palmyra, New York. Smith supposedly translated the golden plates into the scripture book for the Mormons called the Book of Mormon. Smith would then move his new church founded in 1830 to Missouri, to Ohio and then to Illinois. The church became known for numerous strange doctrines, for its loyalty to Joseph Smith, for its elevation of the Book of Mormon and even for polygamy. All of this brought severe pressure on the group that became known as LDS or Latter Day Saints, so that in 1844 while they were living in Illinois, Smith was murdered in a jail. By this time the sect of Mormons had grown significantly. The church fractured after Smith’s death with a  number of groups going different directions until ultimately there were about a hundred different splinter groups or denominations under the large LDS umbrella. The majority group after Smith’s death followed Brigham Young here to Salt Lake Valley and established their center here. Now this area of what is now the United States at that time was under the rule of Mexico. Mormonism was founded in 1830, and with the publication of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith, but it now numbers over 14 million people around the world. Mormonism or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has become a very influential group of people, politically and especially financially here in the United States. Now there are a lot of positive things you could say about Mormons. They have a wonderful emphasis on the family. They help people track their genealogies. We’ve all seen great commercials on television sponsored by the LDS. They also have a real emphasis on upright living, on moral living and stand against many of the social ills that have invaded society in present day America. They also have a great emphasis on youth involvement. However, what I want to talk about today is that the back story behind this positive public image that LDS has tried to portray in the 20th and 21st century shows us a number of teachings that are quite strange. In fact as we dig into the teachings of Mormonism today, you’ll find that they differ greatly from biblical Christianity. They differ so much that I personally believe you simply cannot call Mormons Christians, though they use the name of Jesus in the title of their church and they talk about Jesus in their teachings. Now during this teaching we’re going to examine some of the doctrines and practices of Mormonism. Now it’s not our goal today to malign Mormonism. It’s not our goal to just attack them. Rather we want to bring clarity to what they teach and what they practice in a way that will help the Christian church around the world with discernment. All of us are confronted with the question of how do we handle this particular group of people who claim to be Christian and yet in their belief system are far from biblical Christianity. Today we’re going to look at what they teach and I want you to stay with me. And I’ll be back in just a moment as we walk through some of the core, cardinal doctrines of Mormonism and ask, is this really biblical Christianity or not?

(Man:)  As far as just their views, I think they're all very similar.
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(Woman:)  Yes, I would, for sure, 100 percent.

(Woman:)  We all believe the same thing, that you know, you be nice to each other.

(Man:)  You go to church, you pay your tithes, you follow the principles and gospel.

(Man:)  So it’s all basically the same. It’s a Christian religion. It’s the same basis. It’s just “we are the true church,” but every church says that you know.

(Woman:)  I feel that if you are a good person you deserve good things. 

(Man:)  I find Mormons to be much more tolerant. 

(Man:)  Have you done good things in your life? Great. Then good for you. And if not, then you’ll suffer the consequences whatever they may be.

(Man:)  We believe that we have the full truth and yet other Christians, they do have some of the truth.

(Man:)  If they say they’re Christians, they’re Christians. If, you know, if other people say they’re not, who’s to say who’s right or wrong?

(Billy Wilson:)  On today’s World Impact program we’re talking about Unmasking Mormonism. We’re asking the question, who are Mormons, what do they believe, and are they truly biblical Christians? Now we’re going to be looking for the next few minutes at views that Mormons have on cardinal doctrines and principles of God’s Word. We’re going to find that these views differ very far from biblical Christianity. The first thing I want to talk about is Scripture itself. Now Christians understand that the Bible is the Word of God, that is was inspired by God and that it is God’s authoritative Word to mankind. In fact 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." The Mormon church does use the Bible. However, they also believe that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and that the book of Doctrine and Covenants, and the book called The Pearl of Great Price, are also authoritative scripture. In their articles of faith section 8, Mormons say this and I quote, “We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the Word of God.” Now Joseph Smith taught that the Bible had been corrupted, and that he was to make corrections to Scripture, that the Book of Mormon was a true translation, but the Bible had been corrupted. So he made numerous corrections to Scripture and had his own translation of the Bible despite the fact that he was not a Hebrew or a Greek scholar. Now Mormons also believe that they have a living prophet. He is the head of their church. And they believe that when the living prophet speaks it is the oracle of God and that it even supersedes the Bible and the Book of Mormon. In other words, that God still speaks through this living prophet. Now all of this is against the testimony of the Bible itself and against God’s revelation of Himself to mankind. Revelation 22 verse 18 and 19 says it this way and I believe puts Mormons on very dangerous ground. It says, “I want everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book and if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city which are described in this book.” God’s Word is clear to toward us. We are not to add to or take away from what He has said. The second area that I believe Mormons differ greatly from biblical Christianity is in their view of God Himself. Mormons believe God ascended to be God, not that He always was God, but that He was like us as a man and ascended to be God. Now biblical Christianity believes that God has always existed, that there’s never been a time in infinity past when there was not God. God has always been. He says of Himself, “I am that I am.” He is preexistent and totally existent throughout eternity. There will never be a time when God does not exist. Within Himself He has no need of anyone else. He is totally preexistent and existent. Mormons believe that God the Father has a body of flesh and blood. This a very strange teaching indeed. In fact, in the Doctrine and Covenants book, 130:22, it states and I quote, “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s, the Son also.” Now the Bible says in John 4 verse 24, “God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Now ever perhaps more unusual is Mormons believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three separate gods. This makes Mormonism polytheistic. Joseph Smith would say, in his Teachings of Joseph Smith page 370, it states and I quote, “I will preach on the plurality of gods. I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from the God the Father, and the Holy Ghost as a distinct personage and a spirit. And these three constitute three distinct personages and three gods.” Now this teaching was not an aberration because later on Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie says the following, “As each of these is a god it is evident, from this standpoint alone, that a plurality of gods exist.” This means that Mormonism is polytheistic. Now biblical Christianity believes that God is one. In fact Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4 says, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Yes, there’s a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit, but They are united in a holy trinity and they are one. It’s easy to see, that in these very two primary things, their view of Scripture and their view of God, that Mormons depart drastically from biblical Christianity.

(Announcer:)  Joseph married his first wife, Emma Hale, in 1827, and together they had eleven children. He would eventually have at least 34 wives. Some sources say as many as 48. At least 11 of them were married when he took them. Joseph claimed that the marriage with their first husbands was made before earthly Gentile courts and therefore not spiritually binding. Because of these polygamous practices and charges of banking fraud, Joseph’s church was pushed from New York to Ohio, then to Missouri and eventually settled in Illinois. In 1844, the same year he was nominated to be president of the United States, Joseph Smith was charged and jailed for burning down a newspaper that reported unfavorably on his political and personal ambitions. Several days later a mob attacked the jail and killed Joseph. That might have been the end of the Mormons except for Brigham Young, who was able to unite a majority under his leadership. He led the church to the Mexican territory where they founded the city of Salt Lake.

(Billy Wilson:)  We’re continuing our teaching today on Unmasking Mormonism. We’re asking the question, “Is Mormonism really Biblical Christianity?” In the first two sections of our teaching I think the answer would be no. In fact we looked at how Mormons believe about Scripture and we looked at what they say about God Himself. And in both instances it is simply not biblical Christianity and not supported by the Bible. Now we’re going to ask the question, “What do Mormons believe about Jesus Christ?” I think this is perhaps the most important question to ask in discerning whether or not Mormons are Biblical Christians or not. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is the spirit brother, or was the spirit brother, of Lucifer before Mary gave Him a body. In fact in the Mormons' Book of Moses, Mormons present Jesus and Satan as contending for the privilege of taking a body of flesh. In "The Gospel Through the Ages," page 15, it states and I quote, “The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer, son of the morning, haughty, ambitious and covetous of power and glory. The spirit brother of  Jesus desperately tried to become the savior of mankind." Now because Mormons believe that Jesus was the spirit brother of Lucifer, they are teaching that Jesus was not always existent, that He was created at some point in time. However, Jesus would say in John chapter 8 verse 58, "' I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'Before Abraham was born, I am.'" And throughout the New Testament Jesus is called the "I Am," the same as God says, “I am that I am.” The truth is Jesus is and was very God. Philippians chapter 2 verse 6 and 7 says it clearly, “Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." Now as we look at historical documents in biblical Christianity, one of the most important perhaps is the Nicene Creed, which gives us a clear statement on who Jesus and who we as Christians should understand Him to be according to the totality of Scripture. And it says this, “We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, the only begotten, that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father.” And even perhaps more clear is John chapter 1, verse 1 through 3, which says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made." God’s Word is clear that Jesus is the Creator of the world, that through Him the Father made everything that we see. God spoke, His Word came, and earth came into existence. Jesus was there from the very beginning and Lucifer was not. In fact Lucifer was a created being that we would know as an angel. It means that Jesus was Lucifer’s creator. Thus He is all powerful over him throughout all of time. Revelation 12 verse 7 through 9 does talk about a war in heaven. Let’s read about it. “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and His angels fought back." Now Michael was the chief warring angel in heaven. He was created by God for that position, but Lucifer was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down, the ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray, he was hurled to the earth and His angels with him. Jesus was not the spirit brother of Lucifer.

(Sandra Tanner:)  I’m Sandra Tanner. And my husband and I are both from fifth generation Mormon family. I’m a direct descendant of Brigham Young. He was my great, great grandfather. My mother’s maiden name was Young. And when I was in high school my mother started to have questions about Mormonism. And then I met Gerald, my future husband, and he was on his way out of Mormonism. He had been challenged by different people. And we got married end of June. I accepted Christ that October. The day I accepted Christ I was home alone sitting in my front room listening to this radio program. After I accepted Christ I sat there in my front room and I’m trying to think to myself, okay, what do I believe now that I didn’t believe ten minutes ago? What does it look like to say, I’m a Christian not a Mormon? And that took time. So I had to start over reading the Bible with a new view, trying to see what does it really say. However, Gerald and I still believed the Book of Mormon, one of the Mormon scriptures. We still thought, well, maybe Joseph Smith was called to bring out the Book of Mormon and maybe just all the other stuff’s wrong. Maybe we could just hang on to that, just go back to the Bible and the Book of Mormon and throw out the rest of Mormonism. And we tried that for a couple of years. So we went back and did a serious study of Biblical archeology and tried to study the history for the Book of Mormon. And what we found was that you can get maps for the Bible. You can’t get a map for Book of Mormon lands. The Mormons can’t even decide where the story happened. So there’s no artifacts, no language sample, there’s no people group. There’s nothing to show it historically ever happened. So we finally set the Book of Mormon aside and then of course family and friends all thought we were just crazy as could be. So we started writing up our research to give to them, to show them, you know, here’s the evidence. Here’s the quotes. Here’s the contradictions. Here’s things Joseph Smith said at one time that aren’t the same as another day and that grew into a full-time work on an outreach to the Mormons.

(Billy Wilson:)  Today we are Unmasking Mormonism. We’re talking about the teachings of Mormonism and asking the question, “Is this really Biblical Christianity?” We’ve looked at what Mormons believe about Scripture, what they believe about God, and what they believe about Jesus Christ. And in all three of those prior instances we could determine easily that Mormonism is simply not biblical Christianity. I want to continue now and look at what Mormons believe about man, the nature of man, and what they believe about salvation. When we look at what Mormons believe about man they believe that all human beings existed as spirit beings before we were born. The way a person lives in this life according to Mormons determines their status in the life after the resurrection. And if the deeds of this life have been satisfactory, and all temple obligations have been fulfilled, the individual has the possibility to become a god, and is considered eligible to create spirit children of his own as God the Father did, and populate a world of his own. In Gospel Principles 2009, page 275 it says, “When we lived with our heavenly father he explained the plan for our progression. We could become like him, an exalted being.” And Lorenzo Snow, quoted in the Presidents of the Church Student Manual, says the following, a famous quote in Mormonism, “As man is, God once was. And as God is, man may be.” Now this is one of the oldest lies in human history. In fact, it is the original lie. When Lucifer came to Eve in the Garden of Eden, his promise to her was that is she would eat, and Adam would eat, of the knowledge of the Tree of Good and Evil which had been restricted to them by God, that they would become like God and that they would know things that God knew, that they could ascend to be like God. This is an old lie and it did not work. Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, and instead of ascending, they descended and they died. Now let me say to you today, God is our Creator. We did not create Him in our image and likeness. He created us in His image and likeness. We can become like Him in our love. We can become like Him in ministering to others. But there will always be a difference, a holy otherness, about God our Creator, and that we are His creation, His primary creation, as mankind. Also, Mormons teach about salvation that we are saved by our own good works. They believe, that if we work properly, if we do things that are right in this life, that we can ascend and continue our progression. God’s Word is clear about this old teaching concerning works righteousness. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 it says, “For it is by grace we have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God." We cannot earn our way to heaven. We can’t get into heaven because of how good we’ve been or how righteous we are. I meet a lot of people that would say, “Mormons are good people. They live good lives.” And I would say that’s true and I honor them for that. But you know the truth is I’ve met Buddhists who lived good lives. They have high morals. I’ve met Muslims who lived good lives with high morals. This does not mean that a person is saved and that they will enter eternity with God the Father through Jesus Christ. There’s only one way this can happen, and that is that if we believe in Jesus with our whole heart, and believe that what He did on the cross of Calvary was the full payment for our sins. We can never earn it. We can never deserve it. It is by grace through faith that we are saved. There are a number of other teachings that Mormons believe and that they teach. One of course is the high exaltation of Joseph Smith. I want to quote today a teaching of Harold B. Lee that was quoted in Joseph Smith, Restorer of Truth, in Ensign, December 2003. And he said and I quote, “No man can accept Jesus Christ as the savior of the world, no man can accept this as His church, the church of Jesus Christ, unless he can accept Joseph Smith as God’s mouthpiece and the restorer of His work in these latter days." Mormons are saying through this teaching that in order to accept Jesus as our savior we must accept Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. This is very similar to Islam, which says we must accept Mohammed as a true prophet in order to be saved. And yet when we look at Joseph Smith’s life there are a lot of gaps. He had 34 wives and eleven of the women he married were married to other men at the time he took them as his wife. Mormonism believed in polygamy at its beginning. In the last few years it has refuted that here in the United States, though some segments of LDS still believe and still practice polygamy, especially in other parts of the world. There are a number of other teachings that Mormons have. They don’t believe in a literal hell. They do believe that evangelism continues after the grave. In fact they baptize for the dead so their ancestors in case they accept God, accept Jesus Christ, can be saved. All of these are erroneous teachings to Biblical historic Christianity. Today we’ve looked at what Mormons believe about Scripture, about God, about Jesus Christ, about man and about salvation. In all five of these very foundational principle things we have come to the conclusion that what Mormons believe is simply not true for biblical Christianity. Today you have joined us in Unmasking Mormonism. 

(Billy Wilson:)  Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you, or make you, free." Today on this program we’ve been sharing the truths of God’s word as we’ve unmasked Mormonism. As we’ve shared God’s truth perhaps you have realized that you’re not living free in the fullness of God’s grace. If that’s true today all of that can change in one moment with one prayer. Today why don’t you call me at 1-800-95-SHARE, or go to our website, WorldImpact.tv. Share your story. Share your need of God in your life. And tell me, Billy, I need a directional change. I need to stop going the way I’m going. I’ve been deceived and I want things to change in my life. That’s true. God can do that for you right now. So call me, 1-800-95-SHARE or go to our website, WorldImpact.tv. Perhaps as you’ve watched this program today, you’ve realized also that you have a loved one or a friend who is living in religious deception. They need to know the truth of God’s Word that can set them free. We’d love to join you in praying for that friend. So call our 1-800 number or go to our website and leave their name and tell us, please pray for this person. And we’ll unite with you that God would take the scales off of their eyes, that they could see their error and know Jesus as their savior.  I really am glad you’ve joined us today on this World Impact program from here in Salt Lake City. We have been in beautiful Utah and we’ve been sharing Jesus with the world.