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Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons)

Mormon Beliefs

Many Mormon beliefs, (e.g inerrancy of the Bible, atonement, resurrection, tithing, virgin birth of Jesus, widespread influence of demons and angels in the world, etc) are similar to those of Fundamentalist Christianity. Exceptions are:

     - Their concept of deity is ambiguous. Early works by Joseph Smith describe a trinity composed oi God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.            However, he visualized these as three separate entities. Jesus is believed to had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdelene. Both God and       Christ have multiple wives. The Book of Mormon describes God as being a unity. Other universes are believed to have other sets of deities.      - Salvation is made available to all who believe, but is conditional on a person keeping God's commandments. Most other conservative              Christians believe that salvation is independent of such "works"
     - Hell exists, but very few people go there. Almost all non-Mormons spend eternity in the Telestial Kingdom which is a paradise where every       need is met and people live in perfect bodies. The next level is the Terrestrial Kingdom, an improved paradise on a different planet where          backslidden Mormons (often called Jack Mormons) stay. Devout Mormons occupy the Celestial Kingdom on a third planet, where the men          are basically Gods in training who will eventually be the deity in control of an entire universe. However, couples who are not sealed (married      in a Mormon temple) will be divorced at death and spend eternity as single individuals.
     - All of the humans who have existed, exist now or will exist in the future were created in the form of spirit babies. When a baby is born on           earth, one of these spirit babies takes human form.
     - Mormons do not believe in original sin, the concept that all people inherit the sin of Adam and Eve at birth
     - Through the process of vicarious ordinances, a Mormon's dead ancestors can be baptized into the church. This causes a male Mormon's       celestial family to grow, thus advancing him towards the status of a God. Hundreds of millions of ancestors have been so processed.
     - They believe that God, the Heavenly Mother, and God's other wives live on a planet which revolves around the star Kolob once every              1000 earth years. Each of the six days of creation (described in the first chapter of Genesis) corresponds to a 1000 year interval in earth's        history. At the end of 6000 years, the millennium will arrive, with wars, famines, earthquakes and much suffering. This will start about the            year 2000 CE. The continents will converge into a single land mass.
     - The Jaredite people were one of many groups scattered from the Tower of Babel circa 2250 BCE. They settled on the East coast of               Central America. They were totally destroyed because of their corruption.
     - Some Israelites departed from the Middle East about 600 BCE, before the time of the Babylonian captivity and arrived in America. A                 patriarch Lehi had two sons: Nephi (from whom the Nephites descended) and Laman (from whom the Lammanites descended). The two             tribes lived in a state of continuous feuding and warfare. The earthen mounds throughout the Palmyra area are believed to be attempts at         defensive fortification. Eventually, the Lammanites exterminated all of the Nephites circa 385 CE, and became the ancestors of present day       Native Americans. God gave to Indians their "red skins" as punishment.
    - Jesus came to America after his resurrection where he performed miracles, delivered a sermon similar to the Beatitudes and selected               twelve disciples from the Nephite tribe.
    - Smith received a revelation from Moroni that blacks are not worthy of salvation or church membership because they have been cursed by        God with the "mark of Ham". This led to the restriction of priesthood to persons who could prove that they had no black ancestry. A                    revelation from God in 1979 canceled this limitation.
     Mormon Practices
     Their ethics and morality are similar to those of other conservative Protestant Christian groups. Their views on marriage, church                        attendance, tithing, and their opposition to abortion, divorce, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, equal rights for women, etc differ little.

Exceptions are:

     - Many Mormons avoid smoking and all drinks containing caffeine or alcohol
     - The church sponsors a massive missionary movement involving about 35,000 young missionaries at anyone time (typically a ratio of 4             male elders to each female sister). They dedicate two years of their life in seeking converts. Missionaries live under very strict restrictions          devoid of entertainment and contact sports. They have no say in the selection of their country of service.
     Opposition to the Mormon Church
     The church continues to suffer attacks from non-Mormons who portray Joseph Smith as a follower of pagan folk magic, a fraud and/or a            fake. Some criticisms are:
     - The LDS church believes that the Book of Mormon was translated literally from the inscriptions on the golden tablets which were made             about 600 CE. But the Book contains many passages identical to those found in the King James version of the Bible which was completed in      1611 CE (one thousand years later). This shows that portions of the Book of Mormon were copied from the Bible, not translated from the           tablets.
     - There are several instances where forgeries by Christian scribes which appear in the King James version of the Bible also appear in the          Book of Mormon. Two examples are:
          - I John 5:7 which appears in 3 Nephi 11 :27,36
          - Mark 16: 16 which appears in 3 Nephi 11 :33-34
          - There are several instances where mistranslations in the King James Version of the Bible are copied over into the Book of Mormon:
          - Isaiah 4:5 and 2 Nephi 14:5 refer to a "defense"; it should read "canopy"
          - Isaiah 5:25 and 2 Nephi 15:25 refer to the word "torn"; it should read "refuse".
          - There are several anachronisms in the Book of Mormon:
          - Nephi is described as having a compass when they made the trip to America circa 600 BCE. Compasses were not invented at that time
          - Nephi is also described as having a steel bow. Steel was not invented until after the bronze age.

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