SUMMARY: The Book of Mormon has undergone over 4000 changes ... correcting many embarrassing mistakes ... altering major doctrines, and adding/removing large sections of text
By ED BARCLAY
MORMONISM stands or falls on one claim alone: Was Joseph Smith a prophet from God who restored “true Christianity” to the earth?
This claim made by Joseph Smith himself can be found in The History of the Church Vol 4 Chapter 24 page 461.
I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.

This statement is intriguing, as the doctrines taught by Mormonism today are not clearly found in the Book of Mormon (BOM).
When their missionaries knock on your door, they will try to leave a blue BOM, which is one part of the four standard works of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS).
The others are the Pearl of Great Price, Doctrines and Covenants (D&C) and the Joseph Smith History, in which most of the Mormon church’s strange doctrines are found.
The reason they don’t leave the full set is that if people read all of them they would not join their church. It is a deceptive and misleading ploy to proselytise new converts.

Some years ago, when Mormons came to our home they left a copy of their BOM and asked me to read it. They didn’t know that I already had the Four Standard Works set.
When they came back a week later they asked me questions about what I had read.
The look of horror on their faces when I produced their four books said it all.
I asked them why their church doesn’t give out all of the Four Standard Works instead of just one.

One of my visitors tried to explain that it would be too costly.
I suggested that maybe it was because the church didn’t want investigators to fi nd out the truth about the church.
He asked me what I meant. I replied, “If you read the Book of Mormon and the other standard works you will see contradictions and that the Mormon church teaches bizarre doctrines.”
The missionary blushed and tried to back pedal.
When they start to do this you don’t let them off the hook.
I asked, “Don’t you think it is deceptive of your church to do this?”
The missionary tried to dig himself out of the hole, but the more he tried the deeper he went. He became very fl ustered.
His partner started to see that what I was saying was correct and began to agree with me.
Most of the major doctrines taught by the LDS are not in the BOM.
Things that are not found there are:
1) God has a body of fl esh and bone;
2) The Trinity consists of 3 separate and distinct individual gods that form the Godhead;
3) That God could only organize the already existing matter;
4) That the Godhead are one in purpose;
5) God was once a man and progressed to become God;
6) Heaven consists of three levels;
7) The Melchizedek and Aaronic priesthoods;
8) We can all progress to become gods;
9) There is a pre-existence where our spirits were born (a sexual union between Elohim and some goddess);
10) The practice of polygamy (D&C 132) which was supposedly the new and lasting covenant which was set aside by the 1890 manifesto.

To say that the BOM has no truth in it is incorrect because it has approximately 27,000 words copied directly from the KJV Bible. Large sections of Isaiah and the New Testament are found throughout it. It is worth noting that Joseph Smith himself copied these verses so as to give his novel a feel of divine inspiration.
It’s laughable to see that he even copied the italicized words.
These words were added by the translators of the KJV to give clarity to the text and are not found in the original texts.
A coincidence one might say?
It’s called plagiarism! In Smith’s writings Paul is quoted 600 years before he was born.
You even have the Nephites1 knowing the name of the Saviour hundreds of years before Mary knew it.
A mere read of the BOM shows it up as a 19th century novel into which the story teller has tried to fi t times and places.
The original 1830 edition of the BOM refers to Joseph Smith as author and proprietor.
Its sale price was $1.75.This edition has undergone over 4000 changes, a fact well documented on many websites based on the work by Jerald and Sandra Tanner of Utah Lighthouse Ministries (www. utlm.org).
Their website is a goldmine of information.
Theirs is a most worthy ministry that deserves to be supported. Jerald and Sandra have a long association with the Mormon church.
Sandra is the great-great granddaughter of Brigham Young, the church’s second president.

The 4000+ changes include the correcting of many embarrassing mistakes such as putting kings in the wrong timeframes, the altering of major doctrines, and the adding and removing of large sections of texts. So much for a book touted to be the most correct on earth!
The original 1830 edition can be downloaded from www.irr.org. Read it and you will quickly see that the early Mormon church was “on the fringe” in respect of Christian doctrine. For example the BOM teaches that there is one God and the idea of the Godhead is merely modalist. By about 1835 there was a paradigm shift in Smith‘s thinking and Mormonism went into outright heresy.
There is much that can be written about this. In future articles I will clearly show the direct connection between Mormonism and the occult, which was practised by the Smith family and how Joseph Smith translated the BOM by occult means.
Joseph Smith was convicted of “glass looking” in March 1826; he was charged and found guilty at Chenango County Court by Justice Albert Neely. The term “glass looking” referred to Smith’s use of “a seer stone”, which he placed in his hat to divine for buried treasure.
This occult practice is called divination and is strictly prohibited by God.
To read this online go to (http://www.utlm. org/newsletters/no68.htm)
Smith was arrested three other times between 1826 and 1830. The original court charges’ sheets have recently been returned to the LDS Church. (SEPTEMBER 16 2005). Source: http://kutv.com/ topstories/local_story The modern day name for “glass looking” is FRAUD!

In a website blog room on September 17, 2005 conducted by Steve Benson I came across these little gems. I quote Steve Benson. “In 1961, Nibley2 authored a book entitled The Mythmakers, in which he tried to debunk assertions that Joseph Smith had committed the crime of “glass looking”. Nibley (in words he probably wished he could retract) declared that if Smith was proven guilty it would constitute the most damning blow that could be imagined to his claim of divine prophetship.

Derick S. Hartshorn, in his work, Bearing the Testimony of Truth, reviews the history of apologetic denials by Mormonism’s stoutest defenders, and then compares those desperate defences with the evidence that cuts Smith off at the knees. Under the sub-section, Guilty!
Next Case!
Hartshorn exposes the serious nature of the charges and how they have plunged a dagger into the heart of Smith’s claims to divine guidance:
It was charged that Joseph Smith was accused and found guilty of parting a local farmer from his money in a less than honest scheme commonly known as ‘money-digging’ or ‘glass-looking’.
It was reported to have been an activity that brought him rebuke from his soon-to-be father- in-law, Isaac Hale.
It is also historically recorded that he was removed from membership in a local Methodist church because of the activity and trial results.
Joseph Smith skims over the specifi c event: leading to the trial in the Pearl of Great Price, explaining that he was only a day worker for the man so engaged and not personally involved. Mormon writers have continually challenged its doubters to fi nd the records (seemingly lost) and prove Joseph Smith a liar or stop the attacks. Mormon writer Hugh Nibley, the most prolific defender of the Mormon faith, used almost 20 pages in his book, The Mythmakers, in an attempt to discredit this ‘alleged’ court trial.
On page 142 of the same book The Mythmakers we read:
“If this court record is authentic it is the most damning evidence in existence against Joseph Smith and would be the most devastating blow to Smith ever delivered. [emphasis added] Well the evidence is now in the hands of the church’s president and it will be locked away in his vault along with the seer stone that Smith used to divine the Book of Mormon.

The questions that beg answers are, ”Does a true prophet from God defraud people of money”?
“Does a true prophet from God use occult demonic power to receive revelation”?
I believe in always letting scripture be our judge and guide.
If there arises among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder comes to pass, which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them; you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God is proving you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

	... things that Joseph Smith practised were abominations in the sight of God. This fact along with the deception and fraud clearly make him an instrument of Satan and not of a holy God.

You shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cling to him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he has spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to turn you from the way which the LORD your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall put the evil away from your midst (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fi re, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger (2 Kings 17:17). Other scriptural references are, Ezekiel 13:7 and Acts 16:16. As you can plainly see the things that Joseph Smith practised were abominations in the sight of God. This fact along with the deception and fraud clearly make him an instrument of Satan and not of a holy God. When researching Joseph Smith we must look at the fi rst vision version, of which there are nine different and confl icting accounts. In one he says he only saw angels. In another account the angel’s name is given as Nephi, instead of Moroni. It is blatantly clear that Smith couldn’t even get this account correct. Mormonism stands or falls on Joseph Smith’s testimony. Mormonism teaches many doctrines that are foreign to the Bible. One is known as Eternal Progression, i.e. exaltation to becoming a god, for which you need the temple. There is a direct relationship between the doctrines of ETERNAL PROGRESSION, GODHOOD AND THE TEMPLE. They are integral parts of a committed Mormon’s quest to obtain godhood. The very concept of becoming a god, having your own “piece of universe” and populating it with your offspring, seems a daunting challenge, but to a Mormon mindset it seems perfectly logical since they have been taught that they and their families can live together for eternity. Lorenzo Snow the Mormon church’s 5th president (1898-1901) prophet, seer, and revelator, in his book Gospel Through The Ages chapter 43 page 105 coined this famous couplet: As man is, God once was; As God is, man may become. This doctrine is the keystone to all of the temple rituals as Mormon president, Gordon B. Hinckley shows in an interview with Don Lattin, of the San Francisco Chronicle in March 1997. The interview was published on April 13th:

LATTIN: Q: There are some signifi cant differences in your beliefs. For instance, don’t Mormon’s believe that God was once a man?
HINCKLEY: A: I wouldn’t say that. There is a little couplet coined, “As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.” Now that’s more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don’t know very much about.
LATTIN: Q: So you’re saying that the church is still struggling to understand this?
HINCKLEY: A: Well, as God is, man may become. We believe in eternal progression; very strongly. We believe that the glory of God is intelligence and whatever principle of intelligence we attain to in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. Knowledge, learning is an eternal thing. And for that reason, we stress education. We’re trying to do all we can to make of our people the ablest, best, brightest people that we can.

Hinckley’s response is deceptive and misleading. He knows full well that this doctrine is taught in the LDS! In the OFFICIAL church manual called Gospel Principles a whole chapter is devoted to Exaltation (page 301). This chapter explains, “What is Exaltation” the “Blessings of Exaltations”, the “Requirements of Exaltation”, and “After we have endured to the End”.

Also Hinckley does know that the church has an offi cial teaching manual called “Preparing for Exaltation” which is 276 pages thick and which teaches everything Mormons are supposed to know about this subject.
The reason why Hinckley is deceptive is because the subject of “godhood” is unpalatable to most people and he knows that if this subject is widely publicized it will have a negative impact with potential converts. That is why people who join the church are conditioned to accept this concept.

Exaltation has been the catch cry of all Mormon “Temple Worthy Men” *3.
This is the aim of the current Mormon church president Gordon B Hinckley.
It is also the aim of the Dalai Lama. This is the bait Satan uses to ensnare unsuspecting souls. It is the same lie Satan told Eve in the garden “You’ll be like God”.
It is the same motivation behind the tower of Babel, men aspiring to become gods, but what does God have to say about this?
I [am] the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:23).
You [are] my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I [am] he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me (Isaiah 43:10).
Thus says the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I [am] the fi rst, and I [am] the last; and beside me [there is] no God (Isaiah 44:6).
I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none other, [there is] no God beside me: I girded you, though you have not known me: (Isaiah 45:5).
Other references are Isaiah 45:18; 21- 22; and 46:9.

The Mormon doctrine of exaltation contradicts God’s holy commandment! God cannot say this any plainer, He knows NO other god.
As Bible-believing Christians we know that there is only ONE GOD and in Him we move and have our being, (Acts 17:28). He is the sustainer of all life and He alone deserves our undivided love and praise.

Mormons believe that they worship this “god” (the one whom they call Elohim) that created this universe.
They also claim that Elohim has a father and he too has a father and so forth down the eons of time until you have a collection of gods and grandfather gods and goddesses who govern their own piece of universe.
This Mormon “god” was once a man like you and me and somehow he obtained godhood (EXALTATION) by being obedient to the precepts laid down by his father.

This line of thought begs many sticky questions that leave even Mormon apologists fl oundering. For instance, at what point did this man change from a fi nite being (a man) into an infi nite being (a god)?
What is infi nity?

I was taught in high school that infi nity could never be achieved because it’s endless.
We know that God is infi nite — not bound by time and space. We know that God is self-existent and has always been — past, present and future.
We know that God is immutable (unchanging).
We know that God is omniscient (all knowing) and has all wisdom.
So some of the questions that need to be answered are: How can a man who had a fi nite beginning have all knowledge, past present and future, when he himself did not exist at a given point in time?
At what point do you reach the end of infi nite knowledge?
How can a man progress (i.e. being subject to constant change and learning) to godhood when God Himself is IMMUTABLE (unchanging)?
The Mormon worldview is that it just simply happened.
I have asked these questions and have been told:
(A) That’s too hard to answer;
(B) It won’t affect your faith;
(C) Sometimes God just doesn’t reveal these things to us.
These are typical cop-outs.
At least it starts them thinking who God really is.
Mormon theology teaches that there are three levels of heaven, which is a perversion of 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul mentions his being caught up into the third Heaven. Mormons call the lowest heaven the Telestial Kingdom4, which is reserved for those who are wicked and parallels Purgatory as taught by the Roman Catholic Church. It’s a place where one’s sin can be purged. Here people suffer until the millennial reign is completed when they will be resurrected.

In essence this denies the total effi cacy of the work of the Cross and the power of the blood to cleanse us from all sins. Put bluntly it is salvation by works!

	In essence this denies the total effi cacy of the work of the cross and the power of the blood to cleanse us from all sins. Put bluntly it is salvation by works!

The second level of heaven is called the Terrestrial Kingdom where righteous non–Mormons go. Mormons teach that these people will be visited by Jesus and they will lead single lives, i.e. they will not be allowed to have eternal families.
The last (third) level of heaven is called the Celestial Kingdom.
This is the goal of every devout Mormon. It is where they become gods. There are a number of prerequisites to enter this Kingdom.

Some of these are:
They must be temple worthy, (i.e. he/she must have gone through all of the endowment ceremonies); being married for eternity in a temple; holding the priesthood (the initiation ceremony for this is conducted in the temple), and of course be a faithful tithe giver (Mormon tithe is10% pre-tax) and be blindly obedient and following what the prophet says. In this level of glory all who inherit will be living with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
So as we have shown there is a strong link between godhood and the temple. Without the temple there is no exaltation, no eternal marriage and no endowment ceremonies.
To explain what happens within a temple in detail would occupy much space. I will reserve that for a separate article.
What I now propose is to provide a brief overview of the practices that go on inside a temple.
The fi rst temple that the Mormon church built was at Kirtland, Ohio. The building began in 1833 and was dedicated on March 27, 1836.
It is currently owned by the Community of Christ which was formerly known as the Reformed Latter Day Saints (RLDS). The Salt Lake City Temple, which many have heard about, was the 4th temple to be built.
The ground for this was broken on 14 February 1853.
The building was dedicated on 6 April 1893. It is one of the most impressive temples I have ever seen.
The Mormon church has 121 temples with the latest being opened in Ghana, Africa in August 2005.
Australia has fi ve temples, the fi rst being opened in May 1984 in Sydney (the church’s 28th temple). Adelaide and Melbourne were the next to open in June 2000 (89th and 90th respectively). Perth’s temple was opened in May 2001 (106th) and the Brisbane’s in June 2003 (115th) There are ten others currently under construction.

The increase in the number of temples is mindblowing. When Gordon B. Hinckley was made church president in 1995, there were 48 temples (from 1836-1995). In the past ten years over 70 have been opened. This may give you a picture of how important Mormons view their temples. God appointed only ONE place for a temple to be built in ONE city — Jerusalem.

Over the doors that lead into every Mormon temple is written “Holiness to the Lord”. Mormons apparently think so, but what does the true God say?
God doesn’t dwell in houses made of stone. He dwells in the hearts of all believers: Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).

Does a Mormon temple perform the same function as the ancient temple in Israel?
No, defi nitely not.
The temple of Solomon was comprised of the outer court, the holy place and the holy of holies, where the ark of the covenant was kept.
The temple’s function was to offer sacrifi ces until the Messiah came. Christ is the antitype of all of these sacrifi ces.
When he offered Himself on the altar of Calvary he offered the perfect sacrifi ce ONCE for ALL. He rendered the Aaronic priesthood obsolete and fulfi lled the Melchizedek requirements, That is to say His priesthood is NON-transferable.
He is the only one who can hold that priesthood because he lives forever:

For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said to him, The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you [are] a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek: By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this [man], because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
Therefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. For such a high priest was fi tting for us, [who is] holy, harmless, undefi led, separate from sinners, and become higher than the heavens; Who doesn’t need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifi ce, fi rst for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
For the law makes men high priests who are weak; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, [makes] the Son, who is consecrated for evermore (Hebrews 7:21-28).

The Mormon priesthood comprises of the Aaronic priesthood (Lesser) and the Melchizedek Priesthood (Greater).

Doctrine and Covenants Section 107:1-3

Pg 215 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants Church Website (www.lds.org)
THERE are, in the church, two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood.
Why the fi rst is called the Melchizedek priesthood is because Melchizedek was such a great high priest.
Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.
The latter was supposedly conferred upon Smith by the apostles Peter, James and John. Surprisingly no Mormon, including Joseph Smith, can give you a time when this momentous occasion happened. The Aaronic priesthood was supposedly conferred upon Smith and Oliver Cowdrey on May 15, 1829 by John the Baptist. I have not been able to substantiate whether John the Baptist had his head with him or not. No Mormon seems to know, but I will keep digging anyway.
A Mormon boy from the age of twelve can hold the Aaronic priesthood and has limited duties in this role. He can only administer the outward ordinances of Repentance and Baptism.

Doctrine and Covenants 107: 13-14

on Pg 216 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants: Church Website (www.lds.org) The second priesthood is called the Priesthood of Aaron, because it was conferred upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations.
Why it is called the lesser priesthood is because it is an appendage to the greater, or the Melchizedek Priesthood, and has power in administering outward ordinances.
The Melchizedek priesthood on the other hand is supposedly the greater priesthood as it has what the Mormons call the Keys of the Priesthood.
These keys allegedly give that person the right to preach the gospel (i.e. the Mormon gospel), to lay hands on people so as to impart to them the Mormon Holy Ghost, the authority to heal and to give patriarchal blessings. I have been in the ward for nearly two and a half years now and I have never seen anyone healed nor heard anyone speak in tongues. Mormons do claim to speak in tongues.

Their early church history records a number of times when Mormons spoke in tongues.
Of course they never followed the biblical pattern for testing and waiting for the proper interpretation.
One incident reminded me so much of what happened at Pensacola/ Toronto.
It was identical with strange manifestations and people even being fl ung around the room by their “holy spirit”. It is the same false, lying spirit and along with that same spirit is the spirit of pride.

The Mormons have a fi xation with authority. When you engage them in conversation in this question always arises, “Where do you get your authority?”
An unprepared Christian can be caught off guard and miss a golden opportunity.
The authority and pride issue go hand in hand as they have been taught from a very early age that their priesthood has been restored and they are the ONLY ones who have the authority to preach, baptize and lay on hands.
They are taught that all other churches and denominations are false and are an abomination and belong to the Church of Satan. This includes you and me.

The Mormon church has the world’s largest deposit of genealogical data (family trees etc) and in this connection the temple performs a special function in the spread of the Mormon gospel.
They collect this data so they can perform baptisms for the dead or proxy baptisms so they can redeem their past ancestors, or at least give them a hope of redemption.
This is a vital part of their “missionary work”.

	The Aaronic priesthood was supposedly conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey on May 15, 1829 by John by Baptist.

This doctrine is based on a perverted interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:29.
Mormons do not use exegesis to fi nd out what the verse is saying.
They just twist it to suit their doctrine. The verse does not justify or teach the practice of baptism for the dead. It would appear that Paul simply alludes to what was a heathen practice as another piece of evidence for belief in the resurrection.
There is no evidence anywhere that the Christian Church ever practised baptism for the dead. It was a pagan practice. Mormons claim that only those who have priesthood powers can perform baptisms for the dead.

I was shocked about 12 months ago when I discovered that in September1993 at the LONDON Temple, Adolf Hitler was baptized by proxy. On October 12, 1993 he was endowed and on March 12, 1994 he was sealed to his parents (who were earlier baptized by proxy) and fi nally on June 14, 1994 he was sealed to his spouse, Eva Braun. I downloaded the fi le and began to ask around if other Mormons knew about this. Many to whom I showed the documents were as shocked as I was. In Mormon theology everyone has the right to a second chance salvation after death.
Only recently the Jewish community in the USA took action to stop the Mormon Church from baptizing by proxy victims of the holocaust.

Ironically this doctrine contradicts their own Book of Mormon, which presents the same view as the Bible, that man is appointed to die once then Judgment. The BOM in ALMA 34v 32-35 , III Nephi 27:11-17; Mosiah 3:24-27; II Nephi 28:22-23; makes it quite clear that once a man, who is unrepentant, dies he is the property of Satan.

ALMA 34 v 32-35 Pg 295 BOM

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labours.
And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labour performed. Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.
For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the fi nal state of the wicked.

I have been told that during the above described “temple work” the spirits of the dead contact the living in order to direct them in their family search. A man in the ward that I attend publicly stated that this does occur. Sincere Mormons go to great lengths in their genealogical searches to fi nd their long lost relatives. They believe this extra terrestrial help is a blessing and that because it happens in the temple then it must be from God, who is directing their work. No biblical test is ever applied. Little do they realize that this practice of communicating with the dead is strictly prohibited by God. It is called Necromancy and is OCCULT.

When you come into the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to do the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you [any one] that makes his son or his daughter pass through the fi re, [or] that uses divination, [or] an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things [are] an abomination to the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD your God will drive them out before you (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

To fully appreciate and get a wider view on these practices you must look at Joseph Smith and his family who were heavily involved in the occult.
They practised astrology according to which Joseph was born under the sign of Jupiter, the star that governed 1805 (the year of Joseph’s birth) and 1844 (the year of his death). Joseph Smith wore a talisman, an occult charm with incantations written on it. This charm survives today and is reportedly in the Wilford Woodruff Collection in Utah.

Freemasonry plays a very signifi cant role in Mormonism. Joseph Smith adopted it as part of the temple activity and called it the Endowment Ceremony.
The secret tokens, grips, death oaths and even the clothing all show a strong link to Masonry.
A Mormon who goes through the temple ordinances must wear special underclothing. This garment is supposed to represent the sacred covenants taken and is worn to foster modesty. It allegedly becomes a shield and protection to the wearer. These undergarments have Masonic markings over the right breast, navel and knee. It is simply superstition. I wonder if Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were wearing theirs on the day they were killed?
Obviously not!

In the next article I will tell you more about the Mormon oaths and their links with Freemasonry. The temple in Nauvoo, a city founded by the Mormons in the late 1830’s situated on the Mississippi River in the state of Illinois, and that in Salt Lake City both testify to the architectural infl uences of Masonry, with the inverted pentagrams, the sunstones, moonstones and the compass and set squares (recognised occult symbols) that adorn these buildings — (www/geocities.com/ masonicmoroni/Home.htm) — see also http:// www.masonicmoroni.com

In 1974 Reed C. Durham a Mormon historical writer confi rmed the strong connection between Mormonism, Freemasonry and the Occult in his address to the Mormon History Association Convention. It was titled “Is there No Help for the Widow’s Son” *5, which is the Masonic distress call that Joseph Smith tried to make just before he was shot dead at Cathage Jail in 1844.
Durham clearly shows that all of the upper echelons were masons.

Joseph Smith was made a mason on March 15th 1842 and on the following day was advanced to Master Mason where he then went about modifying it to make it “pure” masonry just as he tried to do with Christianity.
This may shock a few people but Mormons sincerely believe that their religion is the PURE form of Christianity.
In a few years after the church was formed there were over 1300 Mormon masons which included the first five presidents of the church.
Is the God of Freemasonry the same as the God of the Bible?
The answer is NO.
Albert Pike who was the Supreme Pontiff of Universal Masonry, on July 14, 1889 issued instructions to the 23 Supreme Councils of the world is quoted as saying: That which we must say to the crowd is, we worship a God, but it is the God which one adores without superstition.
To you Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, and you may repeat it to the brethren of the 32nd, 31st and 30th degrees; the Masonic religion should be by all of us initiates maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine.
If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay (God of the Christians) bother to make false and harmful statements about him?
YES LUCIFER IS GOD.
Unfortunately Adonay is also God.
For the eternal Law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two Gods; darkness becoming necessary to light to serve as its foil, and as the pedestal is necessary to the statue and the brake to the locomotive …….. The doctrine of Satanism is heresy and the true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay, but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay , the God of Darkness and Evil.” *6
Notice how Satan’s hirelings always twist and pervert things.
Satan is the father of lies and a liar from the beginning.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing things about Mormonism is the relationship that it has with Masonry. In the early days it was touted as an anti–masonry religion but by 1842 it had fully embraced Masonry. Mormons are reluctant to speak of what happens inside the temple because they regard it as sacred. Boyd K. Packer, president to the Council of Twelve, in his book The Holy Temple on page 2 calls these things sacred. Well are they? In my opinion they are not, for they are secret. If investigators (a term used by Mormons for those who are interested in joining their church) were to fi nd out about these things then they probably would never join. These things are deliberately kept from the potential convert.

	Jospeh Smith was made a Freemason on March 15, 1842 and on the following day was advanced to Master Mason where he then went about modifying it to make it “pure” masonry.

President Packer goes on to say that the temple ordinances encompass the complete plan of salvation and it encompasses the panorama of God’s purposes relating to this earth. Notice he says this earth”.
For according to Mormon theology the plans are played out over and over again on millions of planets in millions of solar systems for time immemorial.
This highlights the fact that Mormons are POLYTHEISTS and most Mormons don’t even realize it because their senses have been dulled and their eyes have been blinded to the truth.
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart: (Ephesions 4:18).

In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of them who do not believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them (2 Corinthians 4:4).
In November 2004 Ravi Zacharias a Christian apologist of note was invited by the fi rst president of the Mormon church to speak at the Salt Lake City Temple. The event was unique in our time. The last non-Mormon to speak at the temple was D.L. Moody back in the 1890s.

I purchased a copy of the sermon he preached and by all standards it was a remarkable message. By all accounts it would have unsettled most Mormons present.
However it raised a contentious issue that will not go away:
Should Evangelicals and Mormons seek common ground?

As I have stated in previous articles I fi rmly believe that Mormonism is a false gospel and a cult. I have showed that the Jesus of the Mormons bears no resemblance to the biblical Jesus.
In this article I have shown the occult infl uences and occult practices performed by Mormons in the temple.
If Evangelicals are prepared to compromise in order to bring Mormons in for the sake of unity then I am totally against it.
However, if the goal is to challenge Mormon apologists and convince them of their error, which in turn may lead to a change in doctrine, then I am all in favour of it.

This happened with the Worldwide Church of God (Armstrongism) and to a degree the SDA.The thing about the Mormon hierarchy is that it relies on progressive revelation and this is a factor, which must be taken into consideration.
Twice in the Mormon church’s history progressive revelation led to doctrinal change — once in 1890 with the manifesto that set aside polygamy and again in 1978 when the priesthood was opened to black males for the fi rst time.

Interestingly both of these doctrines were supposedly eternal and could not be set aside. Like the Roman Catholic Church that has the magesterum, doctrine can be formulated and changed, particularly when the Pope speaks excathedra.
Likewise with the Mormon church when the president gives revelation it is considered doctrine and it is not required to be voted on in general conference.

Mormonism’s agenda is that it wants to be accepted as a mainstream Christian church.
It has spent millions upon millions of dollars in advertising to try and achieve this.
We as Christians know that they are by no means in any regard at all Christian. Not one of their doctrines resembles biblical Christianity.
The real test of the acceptance of Mormonism as a “Christian” religion will come in the 2008 US presidential election.

Mitt Romney, the governor of Massachusetts and a possible presidential candidate is a Mormon. It remains to be seen if the powerful Christian conservative voting block will throw their weight behind him.
It is reported that Romney has the fi nancial backing needed to mount a campaign for the presidency of the USA.
If he were elected he would be the fi rst Mormon ever elected. He is popular and is anti-abortion, anti-homosexual and, of course a conservative, pushing strong family values.

If Romney becomes a candidate then this is going to leave many Christians with a voting dilemma. The vast majority have no idea what Mormonism stands for, let alone what the Mormon church teaches, so it should be interesting to see what will eventuate.

A Mormon is blinded to the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the more that they advance through the temple the deeper the deception grows.

Pray for these people because they need to come to a saving relationship with Christ.

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Footnotes:
*1 According to Wikipedia: In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites are a people descended from or associated with Nephi, a prophet who traveled with his family from Jerusalem to the Western Hemisphere circa 600 B.C. at the urging of God.
The Nephites, initially a righteous people, eventually fell into wickedness, and were utterly destroyed by their rivals the Lamanites circa A.D. 421. Most members of the Church of Latter-day Saints believe that the Nephites were a historic people. However, most mainstream archeologists argue that there is currently no compelling evidence that this group existed
*2 Hugh Nibley is Mormonism’s best apologist. He is highly respected throughout the LDS.
*3 The term used to describe those who have completed all the Temple endowment ceremonies.
*4 The word “telestial” which has no dictionary defi nition does not occur in any context other than that of Mormonism.
*5 If you do an internet search using this title you will be able to read the whole transcript. 6 Source: (A.C. De La Rive “La Femme et L’enfant dans la Franc-Maconnerie Universelle Pg558 and Queensborough Occult Theocracy pp 220,21 and Barry Smith’s book Second Warning pp 96,97.

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Appeared in Issue 21.1 CETF NR 35 April 2006
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3

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