WHOM DO YOU TRUST, JOSEPH SMITH OR JESUS CHRIST?

In the coming newsletters I will present a simple format to use in sparking the thinking of your Mormon friend. The name of the series is: Whom Do You Trust, Joseph Smith or Jesus Christ? I will use comparisons between what Joseph Smith said and what Jesus said about various topics related to the kingdom of God. These are not meant to be in-depth studies but seeds to plant in a mind that has been deceived, springboards for you to dive into the deep waters of winning souls for the Lord Jesus Christ. "…he who wins souls is wise." (Proverbs 11:30). You may add additional personalized scriptures to the ones I give.

ABOUT GOD
(Because of limited space I will only deal with one of the attributes of God and only write out one or two quotes and list other references.)

"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22).

"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! …I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see. …It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from the Bible. [No Bible reference is given to prove this point] (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith by Joseph Fielding Smith pp345-346). See also p. 370 of Teachings.

WHAT DID JESUS SAY?

ABOUT GOD

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS:

The Bible tells us "what may be known about God is plain" because "God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Romans 1:19-20, emphasis added).

Also see: 1 Timothy 1:17; Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 40:25-28; 1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 139:7-8 Numbers 23:19; Hosea 1:9

Questions to ask Mormons:

1. Who is right about this one (of many) attributes of God's? Is He flesh and bone as Joseph Smith says or Spirit as Jesus said?
2. (When speaking of God, Mormons use the title "heavenly father.") Has this "heavenly father" been God from all eternity? Joseph Smith said no, "I will refute that idea…"(see quote above) and states that God was once a man.
3. The Bible tells us, "No one has ever seen God" (John 1:18). Is this a lie? Or was Joseph Smith lying when he said he saw God? (Joseph Smith claims to have seen "two personages" which is interpreted by Latter-day Saints to be God and His Son Jesus. This is the official version of Joseph Smith's vision found in their Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith, History.)

Conclusion

From this comparison we see that Joseph Smith taught a completely different god from the God of the Bible. Joseph Smith said he would "refute" the idea that "God was God from all eternity." This sounds suspiciously like the serpent's temptation to Eve when he refuted or brought into question God's Word, in Genesis 3:1: "He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden"?" (Emphasis added.) Questioning what God has clearly said in His Word is the oldest trick of Satan. When Joseph Smith said he "saw two personages," could this have been an "angel of light" as described in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14; "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." Decide for yourself.

From the very beginning God said; "If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, 'Let us follow other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and let us worship them,' you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere" (Deuteronomy 13:1-4). Joseph Smith's god and the one the Mormon church upholds today is flesh and bone and did not always exist as god but was once a man. Jesus said we "must worship in spirit and truth." It is our responsibility to study and correctly handle "the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:14).

Challenge

The Latter-day Saint testimony begins with these words: "I believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God…" The challenge to the member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is this: Examine this prophet in whom you put your trust. Is he worthy of your belief in him?

If this prophet speaks his own words and not the words of God, (and the foregoing quotes show this to be true) then he is a false prophet. From your own history books compare Joseph Smith's words with the words of Jesus. Jesus said, "Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people" (Matthew 24:11). Your eternal destiny depends upon whom you trust.

Back to No Comparison or Joseph Smith