As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called on to judge correctly (John 7:24). Our conclusions should be accurate and based on fact. What I plan to do is to test the claims of Joseph Smith, and prove that Mormonism is an illegitimate and false religion by applying three techniques that I learned from former Cold Case Detective—Jim Warner Wallace in his book, Cold Case Christianity.
Technique #1: Test Your Witness
The founder of Mormonism is a self-proclaimed prophet named Joseph Smith. He started Mormonism as a restoration movement claiming that after the death of Christ’s apostles, the early Christian Church fell into apostasy. He claims the scriptures were changed and were no longer considered an authority to teach in God’s name. So he wrote the Book of Mormon in 1830. By doing this, he added to and changed the scripture of the King James Bible and claimed Mormonism as the “only true church.” When we test Joseph Smith’s credibility as we would test any witness in a court of law, we see that there are significant problems with his character and that there is a direct correlation between his character and the inconsistencies of the Mormon religion.
Smith’s Affair
In 1835, Smith added a new section to his Doctrines and Covenants regarding marriage. He said one man should have one wife and one woman should have one husband. At the time, it was rumored that Smith was having an affair with his 17-year-old maid, Fanny. Author R. Philip Roberts contends, “This addition was meant to counter the local gossip that Joseph Smith was having relations with his 17-year-old housemaid, Fanny Alger. Today, Mormon historians list Fanny as one of Smith’s earliest plural wives.”[1] Even Smith’s friend Oliver Cowdery called it a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger’s.”[2] By 1841, Joseph Smith was teaching polygamy and marrying many wives himself. Joseph Smith’s lifestyle contradicted his writings in Doctrines and Covenants. This wasn’t the only time Smith changed his story to suit his purpose.
Smith Steals Money from Bank
In Kirtland, Ohio during the 1830’s, there were growing problems among new Mormon settlers. The church leaders had borrowed much money from people in the eastern U.S. in order to build churches and help the poor and start up businesses. Creditors were losing patience. After unsuccessfully seeking buried treasure again to offset debt, Joseph Smith started a bank like a savings and loan but with insufficient capital. Roberts claims, “Mormons accepted ‘Safety Society’ notes as legal tender because they believed the bank was created by God, that it had a sacred mission, and thus was invincible. Soon the community realized there was little to back the notes. This led to numerous threats and lawsuits against Smith and his partner Rigdon. The venture soon failed.”[3] Smith and Rigdon got out of town secretly and left their families behind. Joseph Smith could not be trusted with people’s money.
Jail Time
Smith served jail time twice. The first time was in 1826. Smith was the product of a culture deeply imbedded with magical practices. He made his living as a “money digger”. He did this by placing magic seer stones in his hat, then putting his hat over his face. He then could see where treasure was hidden. He caused so much disruption in the town because of his practices that charges were brought on him as a disorderly person and an imposter. Author David Persuitte contends, “it was apparent that Joseph was engaging in what was essentially a confidence scheme to look for buried treasure which could never be found because of an ‘enchantment’ that caused the treasure to ‘move’ through the earth away from the diggers.”[4]
The second time Smith was jailed was after the bank collapsed. Several of Smith’s former church leaders were now influential. They cautioned townspeople not to trust Smith. To counter, Smith formed a secret church police. When Mormon’s tried to vote in 1838, there was a riot from both sides. In the end, Joseph Smith spent the winter sitting in jail on charges of “treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny and perjury.”[5] Then he bribed the local official to let him and his other church leaders escape. Once again, Smith demonstrated his deviousness.
Unfulfilled Prophesies
Smith considered himself a prophet. Prophets must be tested. If their prophecy’s come true, then we can believe them. Several of Smith’s prophecies did not come true. He prophesied that Jackson County, Missouri would be the place where the temple would be built and that it would also be the city of Zion. That prophecy did not come true. When Smith was fighting to save his church from financial ruin in 1836, he prophesied that buried treasure would be found in a house he rented and that God would give him gold and silver. He never found it.
Technique #2: Can the Claims of Mormonism be Corroborated?
Corroboration is a key factor in deciding whether or not a witness can be trusted. If his testimony can be corroborated, then that is one factor that can contribute to the believability of the witness. In this section, I will prove that the claims of Joseph Smith cannot be corroborated either by his friends, experts or the Bible.
Smith’s Own Men Turn on Him
After the bank incident, Smith and his followers fled to Commerce Illinois and changed the name to Nauvoo. That is when Smith started to lose it. He began teaching polygamy and Roberts asserts he was, “secretly taking plural wives himself.”[6] Next, he started teaching that, “by proxy a person could be baptized for a dead loved one and thus open the opportunity for the deceased to enter the highest heaven.”[7] Then he taught that many Gods created the earth. Smith then set up a Masonic lodge and appointed himself to the highest position. He created many secret handshakes, passwords and penalties for his temple and claims that “his temple ceremony was the restoration of the true ceremony from Solomon’s temple.”[8] The last straw was when he preached about the plurality of Gods. Finally, some of Smith’s top leaders had enough. They asked Smith to stop preaching these new ideas but he would not. They set up a newspaper called, The Nauvoo Expositor, exposing his teachings and relationships. Even his own men could not agree with his ideas. This conflict is what eventually led to Joseph Smith’s death.
The Plates
The Gold plates Smith claimed he was given by an angel in the forest were supposedly seen by three other men; Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer. Harris was skeptical about the plates from the beginning. Smith told him that he had another vision claiming Harris needed to pray to God and have faith in order to see the plates. This makes little sense. If the plates really existed, why would he need faith to see them? When the three entered the forest to pray for faith to see the plates, they had no success. Finally Harris stepped out claiming it was his fault as a doubter. Smith, Cowdery and Whitmer then claimed the angel appeared to them with the plates. Cowdery later testified that he saw the plates. This is questionable for three reasons. The plates were supposedly seen only after Harris left. Also, the two remaining men with Smith who saw the plates were members of Smith’s family, which means they may have signed the witness document out of loyalty. This would mean they were biased eyewitnesses. Last, they claimed to see the plates with their “spiritual eyes”. Not their physical eyes. Again, if the plates were already in Smith’s possession, they should have been visible with the naked, physical eye.
The Papyrus Scrolls
Probably the biggest embarrassment in Mormon history is the story of the papyrus scrolls. In the summer of 1835 when a traveling salesman named Michael Chandler displaying Egyptian mummies and scrolls came to Kirtland, Ohio, Smith bought the collection and claimed to have translated some of the hieroglyphics saying one was the original writings from Abraham. He never explained how he did this. Years later, the scrolls were thought to have burned in a museum in the Chicago Fire. But in 1967 it was discovered in an art museum in New York. The scrolls were turned over to Egyptologists who uncovered the real origin of the documents. They were Egyptian funeral documents that showed various Egyptian gods and goddesses. They had nothing to do with the writings of Abraham whatsoever. This publication by Smith became part of Mormon doctrine called The Pearl of Great Price. Roberts asserts that Mormons have tried to argue that, “the Joseph Smith Papyrus was not the same text Smith used in his translation. However experts have proven conclusively that it was the same.”[9] As far as I’m concerned, this is Game Over for the Mormons. In my opinion Joseph Smith was a con man and his religion is a counterfeit religion.
Tactic #3: Accuracy of the Testimony
Mormonism as a World View Religion believes several doctrines that are not accurate in terms of what God promised in the Christian Bible. Here I will talk about the key doctrinal discrepancies and why they are not accurate.
False Claims of Apostasy
Roberts contends that the Mormon religion is based on a false claim that the Christian church “fell into total apostasy, instituted false doctrine, changed the Scriptures, and lost the authority to minister in God’s name. Not until Joseph Smith restored the ‘only true church’ with the priesthood authority, was a person able to have a valid baptism.”[10] This directly contradicts what God promised in Matthew 16:18 where Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Roberts also asserts, “the Book of Hebrews explains that the Aaronic priesthood was brought to an end with the death of Christ and that Christ is our only eternal high priest after the order of Melchizedek.”[11] In addition, how could Mormon’s claim the gospel completely disappeared when it was with the church all along since it started in the first century? Right from the beginning, the entire basis for the Mormon religion is a lie. It was the bible and its truths that Roberts claims, “brought revival and renewal to the church and the world. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century came about as a result of a return to Scripture alone as the foundation of truth.”[12]
No Trinity
Mormons believe that God the father and Jesus Christ “both have physical resurrected bodies and are totally separate gods.”[13] This is because of a so-called “vision” that Joseph Smith experienced where he saw two different people and one said while pointing to the other, “This is my beloved Son. Hear him!”[14] The Christian Bible teaches the trinity. That God the father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all one. In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,..” He is having a conversation within the Trinity. In Genesis 3:22, God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” These scriptures in no way prove that there are three separate Gods. We know this because in Isaiah 45 God states 5 times, “I am the Lord and there is no other.”
God Has Not Always Been God
Not only does the Mormon Church believe that God is three separate persons, but also that there are many Gods. LDS apostle Bruce McConkie explained, “Three separate personages –Father, Son, and Holy Ghost –comprise the Godhead. These three are the only God’s 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.”[15] Mormon’s also believe that God was not always God. LDS Church leader B.H. Roberts said this: “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be.”[16] This is quite different than everything our Bible teaches about God. R. Philip Roberts claims that, “Most Mormons have never analyzed the implications of this statement. If God was once a man on some other world, then there had to be a different god in charge of that world.”[17] Both the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible maintain there is only one God. Habakkuk 1:12 says, “Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One?”
Salvation by Works
Christians believe that we are saved by grace alone as Eph. 2:8-9 points out, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Mormons believe you are only saved if you are baptized in the Mormon Church by one of their priests. In addition, Mormon’s try to appeal to the seeker’s family values by stating that, “if you are married in their temples, your children are sealed to you. If the whole family obeys and serves the church, then they will spend eternity together. This is the reason LDS couples desire a temple wedding, so their union will continue throughout the eternities. Without this eternal marriage, they would never have eternal life.”[18] This is a works based faith and if you compare it to the Christian doctrine, it is inaccurate. Mormonism insists that a person obeys its teachings. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world and promised that all who believe in him will be saved. He did not teach that all who attend the Mormon Church would be saved. Salvation is a gift. Faith in Jesus Christ alone saves completely and totally.
Baptism of the Dead
One critical difference between the Christian Church and the Mormon Church is the doctrine of baptism. Author R. Philip Roberts asserts that in 1841 Joseph Smith made the announcement that, “by proxy a person could be baptized for a dead loved one and thus open the opportunity for the deceased to enter the highest heaven. The most serious error of Mormonism is its claim that in the post mortal or spirit world one may achieve salvation or a higher level of heaven.”[19] Hebrews 9:27 makes the subject of death and judgment very clear: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” We are judged after we die. Once we leave this earth, our decision for Christ has been sealed. There is no baptism by proxy. This doctrine is completely against the Christian Bible and therefore completely inaccurate.
Mormonism Is A New Religion
Mormonism asserts that, its teachings are the same as those of the early church, and it has restored God’s truth on earth. However, Mormonism is a new religion. Roberts states, “Its doctrines, rites, rituals, the office of its prophet, and the importance of its temples are based more on the Freemasons of the 1600’s and 1700’s than New Testament Christianity, much less Old Testament Judaism.”[20] Mormons claim to have the only true gospel on earth. After what I have shown here, the truth is that their gospel is false.
Conclusion
Since Roberts evaluated the Mormon religion so succinctly, I will conclude with a quote from him.
“Mormonism is a fabricated and artificial form of Christianity. It is a new religion produced by the false prophet Joseph Smith. It teaches an unbiblical approach to salvation and insists on baptism and membership in the LDS Church to experience the fullness of heaven in the celestial kingdom. The God of Mormonism and the Jesus presented in that system are not the God and Jesus of the Bible. The differences between orthodox Christian theology and LDS teaching on these issues are critical and irreconcilable. Both perspectives cannot be true. If one is right, the other must be wrong.”[21]
[1] R. Philip Roberts, Mormonism Unmasked: Confronting the Contradictions Between Mormon Beliefs and True Christianity, (Nashville, B & H Publishing Group, 1998), 36
[2] Roberts, Mormonism Unmasked, 36
[3] Ibid. 38
[4] David Persuitte, Joseph Smith and the Origins of The Book of Mormon, (North Carolina, McFarland & Company Inc., 2000), 43
[5] Roberts, Mormonism Unmasked, 38
[6] Ibid. 40
[7] Ibid. 40
[8] Ibid 40
[9] Ibid. 114
[10] Ibid. 33
[11] Ibid. 33
[12] Ibid. 78
[13] Ibid. 29
[14] Ibid. 28
[15] Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1979), 576-77
[16] B. H. Roberts, Manual, 1901-2, pt. 1, p. 17, Defense of the Faith and the Saints, vol. 2, p. 273, as quoted in LDS Collector’s Library ’97, CD-ROM.
[17] R. Philip Roberts, Mormonism Unmasked, 47
[18] Ibid. 53
[19] Ibid. 40, 131
[20] Ibid. 78
[21] Ibid. 155