Terms & Areas
|
Christianity
|
Mormonism
|
Type
|
Monotheist – there is only one God1.
|
Polytheist – there are many Gods2.
|
God
|
God is the creator of the universe and of humans. He is all good, all powerful, all knowing. He is omnipresent. He is eternal, the “uncaused cause” with no beginning or end. He is spirit only.
|
The Mormon God is an exalted man3 called “Elohim” who lives on a planet near the star-base Kolob4. Elohim has a physical body5 and is limited in power, he cannot create matter. He is not omnipresent being limited to one place at a time6. He is not eternal like the Christian God since Elohim had a beginning7. The Mormon God is married, to the “Heavenly Mother”8.
|
Jesus
|
Jesus is God incarnate and divine. He has two natures: a human nature and His nature as God. He was born of a virgin. He performed miracles. He shares all of God’s attributes with the addition of a human body. Jesus was not created and is eternal. He did not marry. He died on the cross and was resurrected with the same physical body three days later, conquering death. Christians worship and have a personal relationship with Jesus.
|
Jesus and Satan are brothers9. Jesus was conceived via Elohim coming to earth and having physical sexual relations with Mary10. Jesus was married11, and was likely a polygamist12 and fathered children13. Jesus is a created being14. You cannot worship or have a personal relationship with Jesus.15 Jesus appeared to people in America after his resurrection.
|
Church Organizations
|
Going to church is not a means to salvation, but rather a way to grow in Jesus and join with other Christians. Christians can go to any other church as long as that church teaches the fundamental’s of Christianity.
|
Salvation is found nowhere else but through the Mormon Church organization16. The creeds of all other churches are an abomination17. People who go to these other churches “highly offend” God who considers their pastors and ministers the “most corrupt of all people”18. Christians are all damned19.
|
Salvation
|
Jesus provided salvation by his death on the cross. Salvation is accepted by believing. It is a free gift – no works are required.
|
All will be raised from the dead, but individual salvation and forgiveness from sins is by works20. To reach the “Celestial Kingdom of God” and to have a chance of gaining godhood, a Mormon must keep the whole law21. These Mormon laws and commandments include: giving the Mormon church ten percent of your income22; accepting the Mormon gospel; Mormon baptism23; being married in a Mormon temple24; the constant wearing of Mormon sacred underwear known as a “temple garment”25; staying “worthy” by perfectly obeying Mormon laws26 which include avoiding liquor, tobacco and hot drinks27; the Mormon must obey the church authorities28.
|
Heaven for Men
|
A joyful place in the presence of God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. There will be perfect peace, love, and rest for eternity. Good works will be rewarded. Our bodies will be perfect. There will be no marriage in heaven. There will be plenty to do. We will know our creator, and in that relationship experience true happiness.
|
Being exalted to godhood29. Ruling their own planet30. Populating their planet with children via their wives31.
|
Heaven for Women
|
Exactly the same as heaven for men.
|
Being eternally pregnant populating her husband’s planet (along with her husband’s other wives)32. But only if her husband decides to call her into the Celestial Kingdom33.
|
Gospel
|
The story of Jesus’ death on the cross, his burial, and resurrection, and the resulting forgiveness of sins for all who believe in Him.
|
The Mormon Church’s laws and ordinances.
|
Scriptures
|
The Bible.
|
The Book of Mormon. Doctrine and Covenants. Pearl of Great Price. The Bible (only the parts that do not contradict Mormon doctrine, any contradicting parts were mistranslated34).
|
Origins
|
Christianity is founded by Jesus who was born around 4 BC. Jesus was the messiah prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures and was God incarnate. After Jesus’ resurrection his apostles spread the good news of free salvation to the known world, and guided by the Holy Spirit they authored the New Testament books of the Bible.
|
Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith born 1805 AD. In 1830 AD Smith said he found golden plates which contained in “reformed Egyptian” the history of people and Christianity in the Americas dating between 2500 BC and 400 AD. He translated these plates by using a seer stone in his hat, he would put his face into the hat and see the translated text written within the stone – this text became The Book of Mormon. After destroying a newspaper that threatened to expose his teachings on polygamy and multiple Gods, Smith was arrested and jailed. A mob stormed the jail and Smith died defending himself in a gun battle.
|
Archeology
|
The Bible’s descriptions of places and peoples have been verified in many instances by archeology. Cities like Jerusalem, Jericho, and Nineveh are known. Peoples like the Hebrews, Philistines, and Egyptians really existed. The Hittites were thought to be a mythical people in the Bible until archeologists uncovered their artifacts in the second half of the nineteenth century. Jesus is mentioned many times outside of the Bible including by Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny The Younger. Many examples of coinage mentioned in the Bible have been found, including the ancient shekel. Museums around the world are full of items from these times.
|
Mormons believe that The Book of Mormon is an historical record, however The Book of Mormon describes places and peoples in the Americas for which no archeological evidence exists. The civilizations of Nephites, Lamanites, Jaredites and Mulekites have never been found. The Smithsonian Institute and the National Geographic Society have issued statements saying that no evidence has been found supporting the history reported in the Book of Mormon35. There is no evidence that the Old World animals reported in the Book of Mormon existed in the New World before Columbus, including: horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and elephants. Also not found are evidence for pre-Columbian chariots, silk, wheat and barley, cement, steel, metal swords, scimitars, and glass windows – all of which appear in the Book of Mormon. No examples of the coinages36 mentioned in the Book of Mormon, like the senum, ezrom, and shiblums, have ever been found.
|
