Basics of Mormonism

Most Mormons will tell you that they believe the KJV of the bible in addition to their Book of Mormon.  This helps them win the favor of Christians long enough to get their hook into them and reel them in.  Besides what you’ve already seen in the video where Ray Comfort witnesses to a Mormon, the best thing you can do to open up an opportunity for the good person test is to ASK QUESTIONS.  Most Mormons are grounded in their faith and can give you great details about what they believe.  There’s their downfall!  The cold hard evidence is stacked up against them when it comes to the errors of their Book of Mormon (spelling and doctrinal corrections made over many revisions), the timeline of its content, and its contradictions to bible doctrine.  By learning a few key irrefutable facts, you should be able to make a Mormon doubt his religion and provide an open door for the good person test. 

Why is the good person test so important?  Read Hebrews 9:13-14.  Prior to Jesus’ death on the cross, consciences could not be cleansed.  A person could be outwardly ceremonially clean, but they couldn’t have their consciences cleansed.  It’s the same thing today for someone who isn’t saved.  Their consciences can be seared, but when hit with The Ten Commandments, a door is opened for the Holy Spirit to convict the person and convince them of their need of a Savior (John 16:7-11).  Because a Mormon’s salvation is based on his own works, he can never be entirely sure of his salvation, unless he knows the secret handshake of angels, of course.  See video from ABC News.  (Doesn’t it strike anyone as odd that Almighty God in His infinite power and knowledge couldn’t stop someone from entering heaven if they know the secret handshake?  I hope it doesn’t get out, or heaven could be full of unrepentant sinners- sarcasm!)

 Where did the Book of Mormon supposedly come from?  In 1823 Joseph Smith was supposedly visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him that the history of the Americas and Jesus’ presence there was written on golden tablets, which Joseph would be tasked with digging up and translating.  He found them buried in a hill in September of 1827, and by the inspiration of God he translates them from Egyptian (History of the Church, Vol. 1, Chapters 1-5 , vs.64) into English and publishes them into the Book of Mormon in 1830.

Here’s how the translation process supposedly happened.  The plates were put in a hat.  Joseph would stick his head into the hat, and letter by letter, the Egyptian would be translated into its respective English letter.  Joseph would read these letters, one by one to his assistant, Oliver Cowdery, who would write each letter down, and one by one, confirm his writing with Joseph to insure no errors were made.  As each letter was written and confirmed, God would make that particular letter fade away, and the next letter and its translation would appear.

Fundamental differences between Mormonism and Christianity

Mormonism

1. Salvation by works
2. Jesus is not God, but a created being
3. Repentance and faith prepare you for baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit, which comes from the laying on of hands by priesthood authority
4. It’s every individual’s job to obey God’s commands (The Ten Commandments), or the Holy Spirit will leave them.  In addition, they must fast one Sunday a month and tithe as an outward expression of their love for God.
5. It’s every individual’s responsibility to endure to the end or they will not be saved.  This is done through renewing baptismal covenants (by partaking in sacraments) and repenting.
6. No such thing as hell.  Everyone will go to one of 3 kingdoms.  The Celestial Kingdom is where God the Father and Son are.  If a person is saved, this is where they go.  The Terrestrial Kingdom is where people go who reject Jesus Christ but live good lives.  The Telestial Kingdom is for people who reject Jesus, live bad lives, and don’t repent until after they die.

Christianity

1. Salvation by faith in Jesus alone, no works
2. Jesus is both fully man and fully God, not a created being, but eternal (Hebrews 1:1-2; John 1:1-3)
3. A person receives the Holy Spirit at salvation, can be saved without baptism (Luke 23:40-43), and is not in need of an earthly priest (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 Timothy 2:5) because the priesthood was done away with when Jesus died, the veil was torn (Matthew 27:51), and he became the greatest priest (Hebrews 5:1-5).
4. Obedience to God’s commands are a result of love for God (John 14:15, 21, 23, 24), but no man can keep them (1 John 1:8-2:2).  They were merely a means to show us God’s standard of judgment and point out the sinfulness of our sin as exceeding (Romans 7:13), so that we might turn to Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:24) for salvation.  A tithe was done under the Theocracyof the Old Testament.  Offerings made in the New Testament were done as love offerings, though there is a command to ensure that Pastors (Elders) who teach well are taken care of (1 Timothy 5:17).  The Holy Spirit is grieved when we sin against God willfully (Eph. 4:30) and fellowship with God is broken (Ps. 66:18), but we are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the end (Eph. 1:13-14)
5. (1 Cor. 1:7-9) God gives the person the ability to endure to the end, and we have no strength to do so.
6. Hell exists for those who aren’t saved (Rev. 21:8).  The standard for being a “good person” is to keep God’s Moral Law, The Ten Commandments, for your whole life (James 2:10).  Aside from that, the only good a person can do is when the abide in fellowship with Jesus Christ (John 15:4-5), which means you can’t have a good person who’s rejected Jesus.  The only distinction we see between three different heavens in the original languages are the sky, outer space, and heaven.  Heaven is the 3rd heaven that Paul references in 2 Cor. 12:2)

What questions should I ask a Mormon?

1. Where did the Book of Mormon come from?  I thought the bible was God’s only revelation to man. 
2. When were the golden plates engraved?  (Over a span from 600 B.C. to 421 A.D.)
3. When were the golden plates meticulously translated by inspiration of God into the Book of Mormon?  (1830 A.D.)
4. How come so much of it’s plagiarized from a book that was written in 1611 A.D., then?  The Book of Mormon contains many, many exact verses from the KJV of the bible, including the italicised words which were not in the original manuscripts of Scripture, but were added by men for clarity in 1611, (219 years before the Book of Mormon was supposedly translated and published, but 1190 years after it was supposedly written.
5. If the process of translation was God inspired and done in a way that was flawless, how come there have been so many spelling, sentence, and doctrinal changes in the Book of Mormon (about 4,000 changes)?
6. Do you know why God would have allowed such a huge doctrinal error in the translation process of 1 Nephi 11:21 which originally attributed Deity to Jesus, and after the change removed the Deity of Jesus?

That should be enough to get you going in your Mormon witnessing.  God be with you!

Tags: differences between Mormonism and Christianity, evangelizing Mormons, how to witness to a Mormon, Mormon, witnessing to Mormons