Though it has attracted many, Mormonism cannot be said that adherence to it will lead one to heaven. This is no minor issue. Eternity is at stake. If we love people; truly love the soul and well-being of a person, we will be concerned about their life through eternity. If there is a truck barrelling down the road at you and I don’t get you out of the way, I fail to love you. Here are a few reasons why Mormon doctrine cannot save.
The Church of Latter-Day Saints is no longer an obscure religion confined to a small following across the west and mid-western United States. As of 2018, the LDS faith claims over 16 million followers across 176 nations and territories, with some 67,000 missionaries. At the close of 2018, there exists 161 temples, with 11 currently under construction, and 29 new ones recently announced. Temples pepper the landscapes of North and South America. And there are more across the globe from places like Finland, France, and Fiji, to Tonga and Taiwan, and Japan, Sweden, Australia, and across Africa.
Despite the rate at which it has grown, Mormonism contains fatal doctrinal problems. Though it has attracted many, it cannot be said that adherence to it will lead one to heaven. This is no minor issue. Eternity is at stake. If we love people; truly love the soul and well-being of a person, we will be concerned about their life through eternity. If there is a truck barrelling down the road at you and I don’t get you out of the way, I fail to love you. Here are a few reasons why Mormon doctrine cannot save:
1. Mormonism cannot lead you to heaven because it departs from the sufficiency of the Bible.
The LDS faith teaches that the Book of Mormon is sacred Scripture, being “another testament of Jesus Christ.” It possesses equal, if not greater, authority as the Bible, and is, therefore, the word of God. Mormonism holds that Joseph Smith discovered the Book of Mormon as a teenager in its original form in Manchester, New York on a hill called Cumorah. The book was recorded on gold plates long ago in an ancient Egyptian-type language. In 1823, Joseph Smith claimed to have been directed by the angel, Moroni, to discover and translate the contents, which became the Book of Mormon.
Mormonism teaches that Smith was a prophet like Moses and Isaiah, chosen by God to restore the true Church of Jesus Christ using the text from the plates.
The content of the Book of Mormon rejects the idea that the Bible alone is the sufficient word of God: “Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible” (2 Nephi 29:6).
Along with the Book of Mormon and the Bible, Mormonism affirms the canonicity of two other works, The Doctrine and Covenants, and Joseph Smith’s work, The Pearl of Great Price. New revelation is also permitted, which, similar to papal authority in Roman Catholicism, can arise from the Prophet, or President of the Church.
This violates the clear teaching of the sufficiency of Scripture: “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar” (Prov 30:5-6
; cf. Deut. 4:2, 2 Pet. 1:3, Rev. 22:18-19). Since it imposes an entire book onto the word of God, the LDS faith is on extraordinarily shaky ground.
2. Mormonism cannot lead you to heaven because it departs from the biblical teaching of the triune God.
LDS adherents insist that they believe in the God of the Bible. The language on God and Christ in the LDS faith appears nearly identical to that of biblical Christianity. Mormon doctrine claims that Jesus is the Son of God, Savior, and Redeemer who died for us. However, there are fateful differences between the God of Mormonism and Christianity.
Mormon teaching denies one of the most important biblical teachings, that God is a Triune God; one God and three Persons, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Instead, the Persons of the Trinity are said to be three separate gods. That difference is catastrophic: it teaches polytheism, not monotheistic tri-unity, as Scripture does. Further, God the Father is said to be an exalted man who “…has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit” (Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22). The Father was once a mortal being who dwelt on earth and eventually ascended to his current god-like status. This puts the LDS god no higher than an exalted man.
Mormonism teaches that he is the father of human spirits (before creation, all humanity were spirits who lived with God the Father), among whom were Christ and the Holy Ghost. This is a different God altogether than the God of the Bible. It’s a God who is less than the eternal, immutable, infinite God, and thus, no god at all. The true God, however, was never a mortal being, but eternally an immortal, immutable, and triune Being with no beginning or end (Job 36:26; Ps. 90:2, 93:2, 102:25-27). For that reason, the god of Mormonism is an idol and a false god. Consequently, he is a god who cannot accomplish true redemption and in whom there is no salvation. To believe in a god different than that of Scripture is to adhere to an unsavable system.
