Illuminati and Mormonism
MORIAH & THE MORMON LEADERSHIP

THE TOP 13 FAMILIES & THE MORMON LEADERSHIP

Rather than having an article this time about an individual family-and we will return later to our articles on the 13 top families, Lord willing, -this article is an article about the 13 families in general.

CONTENT

In the first part of this article we will deal with actual people. In the second part of this article, we will discuss some about the top secret inner workings of the Satanic religion that the top 13 Illuminati families participate in.

PART 1.

One of the thlnp that the Illuminati has done is instill apathy in people toward resisting their wickedness. A letter by an ex-Mormon says it better than I could,

"There are many reasons why these people (Mormons) will not come forth even though they know of the corruption in the Mormon church. One is due to their belief in Mormon scripture which they associate with the Mormon church. The leadership has usurped power and authority over this scripture. Thus, the members of the Mormon church think that God expects them to support their misguided leaders. This is much the - rationalization that many Americans make about our government. They all know of the corruption, but rationalize that it is unpatriotic to talk against the government or ungrateful to complain when they enjoy superficial prosperity."

It is interesting that this Mormon recognizes that the process of the common man�s reaction is the same to both Mormon and American leadership, because as we will discuss the top leadership in both the reader will learn they are related to each other and both under the control of the Top 1.3 Illuminati families.

THE MORMON LEADERS & THE 13Th TOP ILLUMINATI BLOODLINE

The Mormon president Ezra Taft Benson (considered a prophet by Mormons) was a fan of the John Birch Society. Most people who have not read my exposes on both the Mormon Church and the John Birch Society will not be able to protect themselves from the Illuminati. I don�t expose these organizations without a great deal of proof. I say this because I know from too many sources and too many angles that both organizations were initiated and have been run by the Illuminati. The Mormon church has long prophesled that they would defend the US. Constitution in the last days. They are moving to fulfill that with men like Bo Gritz, who sprinkles has talks with buzz words from Mormon prophecy. The John Birch Society was part of the process of the Hegelian dialectics of the cold war. They pretend to be the defenders of the people against the New World Order, but they are fake opposition. (I have met quite a few John Birchers, and so far although they claim to be against the New World Order, they want nothing to do with me, or to learn anything 1 might share with them. I can understand the leadership doing this to me, but somehow the rank and file have picked up on some of the attitudes of the leadership. I don�t know how the JBS has managed to do that, but the antagonistic attitudes that they have instilled in their people toward people like myself are amazing.) In my Be Wise As Serpents book I gave the genealogical evidence to show that the Mormon leadership connected to the 13th top illuminati family, the Holy Blood line of what purports to be Jesus�s lineage. I�ve also showed numerous other connections between the Mormon leaders and the elite Illuminati bloodlines. Ezra Taft Benson�s genealogy helps tie together some of the various parts of the Illuminati beast. The Taft is Heusen�s name is because Ezra Taft Benson is a descendent of Alphonso Taft, who along with one of the Russell family (Russells are one of the top 13 families), William IL Russell, started the Order of the Skull and Bones (legally it has been known as Russell Trust). Remember, that George Bush was a Skull & Bonesman. George Bush also is a descendent of the 13th top Illuminati family -the family that ties in with British royalty and the Merovingians. The man who just beat George Bush in the Presidential race, William Jefferson Blythe Clinton, is a descendent of some Russells.

PRESIDENT CLINTON

This newsletter hasn�t gotten to an individual article on the Russell family, but they go way back in the Illuminati. The Russell�s are responsible for starting the Skull & Bones Order, the Pilgrim Society, the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, and the Masonic Daughters of Isabella (DOI). Archibald D. Russell (1811-1871) a Mason from Scotiand set up still other organizations. (Scotland has played a key role in the Illuminati. One example of thousands is, Marriner S. Eccles - Gov. of the Fed. Reserve Board & supporter of FDR, who is member of the wealthy Mormon Illuminati Eccles family which came over from Scotland.) The Russells played a key role in the opium trade in the early 1800s and early Mormonism. One of the Russell business partners was Warren Delano, Jr., chief of Russell and Company operations in Canton, China. Delano was the grandfather of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt. The Russell and Company logo was a Skull and Bones. The Taft family (which is also related to George Bush by blood) and the Harriman family are two families that have been intimately connected to the Skull and Bones Order (which is an entry point into the Iliuminati and on the surface just an exclusive fraternity).

�Note: Since this was written Bo Gritz and the Mormon church have gone separate ways. Bo Gritz, under the direction of his CIA handier, has been moving around talking to Patriots, and establishing a community called �Almost Heaven� near Kamiah, ID. Fritz�s newsletters have had several articles about Bo Gritz, including one entitled S.P.I.K.E., which is what Bo calls the training he is giving people.�

The Harriman family is also very prominent in Pres. Bill Clinton�s life. Averell Harriman1 was the CEO of George Bush�s father�s company. Averell Harriman�s wife was Pamela who has played an extremely important part in Bill Clinton�s life. Pamela Harriman raised more money for the Democratic Party than any other single person (Newsweek, 5/15/1987). She created a political action committee nicknamed PAM PAC. When Bill Clinton lost his race for governor, Pamela made BIB Clinton head (chairman) of her PAM PAC. (It took Brian Quig, a Christian researcher like myself, to expose the connections between BIll Clinton and Pamela Harriman. Can you guess why the establishment media somehow carefully kept theIr relationship secret?) When Bill Clinton was a high schooler he shook hands with President John F. Kennedy (a member of one of the Top 13 Illuminati Bloodlines-see 5/15/93 Newsletter). The master of ceremonies at the affair where JFK and Clinton met was Winthrop Rockefeller (another member of a Top 13 Illuminati family, and at the time Governor of New York.) In the film clips of this event which the establishment media have used recently, the establishment media edited out Winthrop Rockefeller from the scenes of Clinton and JFK. (Now why do you think they did that?) The Astor family (one of the top 13 famIlies) was intimately connected to the creation of the Rhodes Scholarship. (See 1/1/93 newsletter on the Astor family). Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar and looked upto Prof. Carroll Quigley, the archivist of the CFR, as a mentor. The Quigley-Clinton connection introduces more connections between Clinton and the Illuminati. Quigley side-tracked people by making people think the elite were Anglophiles who wanted the British to rule the world. Although the elite are partial to the English language as a lingua-franca, in their heart their allegiance is not to Britain but to Satan. Clinton has been compared to JFK & FDR by people, perhaps in a negative sense the comparison is appropriate. LET�S REVIEW some of the Items which STUCK OUT AS RED FLAGS TO ME ABOUT BILL CLINTON:

- Several ex-witches now Christians identified Clinton�s running mate Al Gore as switch. Al Gore�s book promotes several witchcraft themes such as Mother Gain worship. Senator Al Gore has intimately worked with other men who are Illuminati for years. Al Gore was close friends with Armand Hammer, the Illuminati courier who shuttled back and forth between Moscow and America on a regular basis, and had homes in both countries. Hammer bankrolled both Al Gore, Jr. and his father Al Gore, Sr.

- Al Gore and Bill Clinton raised their hands at the Democratic National Convention and declared that their administration would be the "New Covenant." Bill Clinton�s brother ended up in prison in connection to the illegal drug trade that I know that Bill Clinton was also involved with helping while he was Governor of Arkansas. Readers of this newsletter are aware that the top Illuminati families are the power behind the drug trade. (See previous newsletter 3/1/93, p. 19 about some of Bill�s role in Arkansas with the drug trade.)

- Bill Clinton�s chief campaign advisor James Carville is pictured in People�s Magazine. p.50 wearing a pentagram in the middle of his forehead.

- Bill Clinton calls his first press conference as President. elect according to the astrologically correct full-moon day.

- Bill Clinton in his inaugural speech said, "This ceremony is held in the depth of winter. But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring.� Clinton repeated the words �we force the spring� later in the speech. That expression is a very unusual expression. To �force the spring" is witchcraft language. in witchcraft and satanism Lucifer (Baal) rises from the underworld on May 1st (also known by the following list of names Beltaine, a major European holiday, Communism and the Illuminati�s chief holiday, and Walpurgis). The May 1st rising brings forth the season of fertility, which the witches each year take credit for, by claiming that their magic rituals �force the spring.� The ritual magic that �forces the spring� is done on 3 Sabbats-the first is Imbolg (also known by names: Candiemas by the Catholics and Ground Hog Day by common dupes); the second is the vernal equinox (Mar. 20) in which blood and sex rituals are carried out and the third is Beltaine (May 1) in which fire festivals are done. This is one of the fire festivals which people around the United States tell me they have witnessed from a distance. Witches believe that on May 1st, the female force completes her takeover from the male force. There are 12 cabinet members which when they assemble with their head BIll Clinton make the number 13. Bill Clinton choose �to force the spring� with his �cabinet coven.� In true witchcraft tradition, the Cabinet of Bill Clinton followed the pattern of �forcing the Spring.� In order for the female to overtake the male force, Clinton chose the position of Attorney General. The title �General� has a male connotation. All the rest of the cabinet members are called Secretaries which has a female connotation. The Attorney General posItion was to be given to a woman. But in order for the witchcraft ceremony and timing to be right, the woman couldn�t take over until after Feb. 2, or Imbolg and there had to be 3 female candidates, from which one is traditionally picked by a witchcraft coven. This is why the selection of the Attorney General was not confirmed until Feb. 2. And sure enough all three candidates given by Bill Clinton were women, from which one was selected. Bill Clinton did indeed �force the spring�! Further, Clinton gave told us HOW he would �force the spring� in his inaugural speech. On the 666th word of his inauguration speech, Clinton launched into a sentence on sacrifice, �it will not be easy; it will require sacrifice. But it can be done, and done fairly, not choosing sacrifice for Its own sake, but for our own sake.� Clinton gave the hand signal of Satanists at the end of his speech. (See previous newsletters this year). And Newsweek Magazine headlined its story �New Age President Takes Office.� (Jan. 25, �93) That Clinton would consider his Cabinet a coven is not so far fetched. Most of his cabinet tie in closely with the Illuminati. The Council on Foreign Relations is an upper level of the visible arm of the Illuminati. The Jan. �93 newsletter explained that the CFR was the equivalent of the 4� of the Bavarian Illuminati. Note, that many of these people do not realize the full Satanic implications of what they are in. If one reviews the various levels of the Bavarian Illuminati, you will realize that the process of corruption was gradual, and that the lower levels had no idea what they were really involved in, although some probably suspected what they were into. The basic ingredient of the lower levels is loyalty to their superiors, because they believe they are in the elite�s organization. Consider, Clinton and his cabinet: Slick Willie Clinton � CFR TC (Trilateral Commission), Bldrbgr (Bilderberger participant), participant in various Illuminati front organizations such as DLC, Rhodes Scholar, wife Hillary is known to practice shamanism witchcraft.



Treasury Secretary - Lloyd Bentsen -- Bldrbgr, ex-CFR, connected to S&L scandal, henchman for the Illuminati.



Secretary of Health & Human Services�Donna Shalala- CFR,, TC, close friend of Hillary Clinton.



Secretary of Defense�Les Aspin--CFR, Socialist Les Aspin chose for his top assistant the pro-communist Jew Morton Halperin. Halperln was also a dir. of the ACLU, and worked loyally for Henry Kissinger at the National Security Council.



Secretary of State�Warren Christopher--CFR



Secretary of the Interior - Bruce Babbitt � CFR, he has been involved in various activities for the elite.



Secretary of Labor�Robert Reich -- a Zionist Jew (over 50% of Clinton�s major appointees were Zionist Jews, strange considering Jews only make up 2% of the population)



Attorney General � Janet Reno -- murderer of innocent people at Waco, TX. The people at Waco believed that they were the true Jews and flew the Jewish flag at Waco, notice that Reno who is Jewish and was on the board of directors of the Jewish Illuminati Terrorist organization of the Anti-Defamation League could not stand the idea of Christians believing that they are the true Jews.



Secretary of Housing & Urban Development - Henry Cisveros - CFR



Secretary of Education - Richard W. Riley - participant at Renaissance Weekend

(I think the readers get the picture. I had a list of which ones were known to be gay, but I can�t find it.) A number of Clinton�s high appointees are homosexuals. There is a high correlation between homosexuality and the occult and also a big correlation between the type of �Jews� Clinton has chosen and Satanism. Historically, some of the most rabid anti-Christians are Satanists from Jewish backgrounds.

- During the inauguration week witches, homosexuals and homosexual witches gathered at the White House for various celebrations, to perform, to hold rituals, and other events. These people were invited by the President for various things. Clearly, those who are known publicly as a witch or a homosexual are considered honorable by the President.

WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ThE CLINTONS?

The answer to this can be found in my very first newsletter back in 1992. Whenever YHVH God has raised up prophets (like Elijah) to turn the people back to God and morality, Satan has sent out the Jezebel spirit. Along with the Jezebel spirit goes the Ahab spirit. Hillary and Bill fit the Jezebel and Ahab spirit exactly. I remember personally when I heard several prophets of God warn about the Jezebel spirit. I thought this sounds rather strange. I had never heard about it before. Soon I began telling people in the church I was attending about the NWO and to function in a small way prophetically, and the Jezebel spirit came into that church. The church had been happy with their elders, but after I began to warn the people about the NWO, a constant clamor was heard every sunday for the church to select women as elders. This church had a long history without believing in women elders, and it had never been an issue. Unless one is aware of the connection between the Jezebel spirit and the Elijah type of prophet, and knows the full orb of what the Jezebel spirit is, it is not likely that a person would notice the connection between the two! Baal worship was simply an ancient form of Satanism. Jezebel was the daughter of King Ethbaal of Tyre who was an ardent Baal worshipper. Jezebel was a Satanic High Priestess, a real witch. She had 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the groves. She put the true ministers of God to death. Her husband used his political office as she directed to further the power of darkness. We are simply now seeing history repeat itself.

PART 2.

In this part we will explain sealing rituals. I am doing this so that Christians can understand who a Keeper of Seals is, and also so that Christians can understand that Mormonism is closer to Satanism than it is to Christianity. This article will hopefully provide a written record so that Christians have an objective way to determine If someone who claims to be an ex-Satanist really is. I realize that some Christians don�t like to learn about their enemy, and that is fine if they do not want to read this. On the other hand, I see people who are coming out of Satanism who the Christians are disbelleving. The Christians have no reference from which to determine whether someone is legitimate or not. And although I believe the Spirit of God is an excellent revealer of men, I have to be frank, even the best of Christians sometimes don�t hear what the Spirit has to say, and could benefit from a written explanation. The closest descriptions of sealing rituals that I have found that matches the descriptions of satanic hierarchy rituais from people who have come out of the Satanic Hierarchy are the Mormon sealing rituals. For anyone wanting to do a study about how Mormonism is witchcraft, I sust they read the scholariy book written by a Mormon scholar Early Mormonism and the Magic World View by D. Michael Quinn. Quinn conclusively shows that early Mormonism was based on magic and witchcraft. Quinn, who is a Mormon in good standing, tries to point out in the book that these things can�t be held against Mormonism because most every one back in the early 1800s practiced magic and witchcraft. Whether most people did or not, seems to me to be irrelevant as to whether it is O.K. Another great book showing the connections between the Mormon Temple ceremonies, Witchcraft rituals, and Masonic rituals is Bill Schnoebelen�s book Mormonism Temple of Doom. Bill does an excellent job of showing and illustrating how the Mormon temple ceremony, Masonic and Witchcraft rituals are simply the very same thing, with minor variations. One of the most important things in satanism is sealing. Everything is sealed. One doesn�t hear the term sealing used a lot. I have read many books of the enemy to know how he thinks, and it is rare to have someone mention sealing. I had to learn about it from ex-Satanists. If one leaves off studying Satanism and begins studying the many cults and religions, one begins hearing about sealing again when one gets to Mormonism. Mormon men and women (contrary to Lk 20:35) are sealed to each other in the Mormon temple marriages. The early Mormons were sealed to many spouses. The Mormon sealing is very simllar to what is done in witchcraft called handfasting, and it is also similar to marriage sealing in Satanism. Joseph Smith, whose famlly practiced witchcraft, had many types of seals around their house which were used in magic. According to a magic book of 1830 "Demonology and Witchcraft" by Walter Scott (pp. 165, 220-221) seer stones were to be anointed with oil, and sealed with holy characters. In 1837, Mormon leaders performed such a magical sealing for James Cohn Brewster. (Mormonism and the Magic World View. p.209-210) Joseph Smith had a cane with a serpent on the top of it, and astrological seals below. Magick staff or canes are important in Satanism. The seal of Mars was carved on the Smith family athame which was used by the family to draw circles for magic incantations. (Mormonism & the Magic World View p. 142) In 1835, a ritual done by Joseph Smith to commune with a spirit messenger is recorder by Oliver Cowdery. Joseph Smith used two Seals of the Earth to conjure up the spirit. (Ibid, p. 120) Smith�s ritual was in accordance with the best occult guidebooks then The Book of Knowledge and Barrett�s Magus.

The 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon says that about itself �... their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit ... They shall write the things which shall be done among them, and they shall be written and sealed up in a book.� (2 Nephi 26:14-17). The Mormon scholar Quinn writes, �The Book of Mormon�s use of the word �sealed� also suggested a magic context. Isaiah 29 uses the word �sealed� only twice, but the Book of Mormon�s commentary on the chapter uses �sealed� eleven times in eight verses (2 Ne 26:17; 2 Ne 27:7-8 ... Throughout the entire text, the Book of Mormon refers to itself with the words �sealed� or �seal� more than twenty times .. Modern Mormons have often pictured a physical seal ... but the Book of Mormon nowhere describes a physical seal, evoking instead the seal as a non-material restriction: �For the book shall be sealed by the power of God.� (2 Ne [phi] 27:10) Quinn goes on to describe more about the magical sealing of the Book of Mormon.

33� Masonic leader Manly P. Hail in his book on Masonic symbolop describes a seal involved with black magic and the Pact that is made with a conjured demon in a section entitled �Modus Operandi for the Invocation of Spirits� on p. CIII. Within both the Generational Satanic covens and the covens made up of recruits to Satanism there is the office of Keeper of Seals. The Keepers of Seals show the importance of sealing to Satanism. Almost everything done in Satanism involves sealing. There are many vows that are made, and there are always exchanges made during these vows and then a sealing. In the exchanges there is always something lost by each person. Satanic Hierarchy individuals are sealed to others, and the part of a Satanist that is put into another is magically infused. In one ritual, there is a black stone with the Satanist�s name written on it that is given to the Queen Mother. (See the chart 1/1/93 newsletter to understand this high rank.) By giving something of oneself, that item supposedly gives magical power to the person you have vowed before. If you break your vow, they can take the item you have given and work destructive magic against you. In the Satanic Hierarchy, they have a Moonchild ceremony where they demonize the fetus while in the womb. In the AntiChrist ceremony, the item that is exchange with Satan for a woman�s vow to Satan is to sacrifice her child. Then of course this vow is sealed. The Keepers of Seals hold the books full of written pacts, and the items exchanged in all these countless rituals.
(excerpt from, 13 ILLUMINATI BLOODLINES, Fritz Springmeier)
 

Joseph Smith & the Necromantic Incident
Guinn Williams

copyright ~ 1988 Saints Alive in Jesus

Introduction

As September 22, 1824 approached, Joseph Smith Jr. must have suffered growing anxiety. He had waited a full year to atone for the blunder of a year before when he had thoughtlessly set aside the golden plates to see if there was any more treasure to be found. At that time the spirit being told Joseph that he could have the plates the following year if he brought his older brother Alvin with him. This was evidently a vote of no confidence regarding the reliability and worthiness of Joseph alone. But worse was yet to come.

Alvin died in November of 1823 and in the 1824 audience Joseph had to report to Moroni alone again. Several sources cited by professor D. Michael Quinn quoted Smith as telling them that the message he received from the spirit personage was, in effect: "Without your dead brother, Alvin, you cannot have the golden plates."1 One can imagine Joseph's frame of mind as he turned toward home. His prospects were ebbing, but all was not yet lost. The unique context of the quest for the plates allowed for substituting a talisman of body parts wretched from the corpse of a dead man as a stand in for the man himself. Only seven days later a bizarre notice appeared in the local newspaper, the Wayne Sentinel:

TO THE PUBLIC;

Whereas reports have been industriously put in circulation that my son, Alvin, has been removed from the place of his interment and dissected; which reports every person possessed of human sensibility must know are peculiarly calculated to harrow up the mind of a parent and deeply wound the feelings of relations, I, with some of my neighbors this morning repaired to the grave, and removing the earth, found the body which had not been disturbed. This method is taken for the purpose of satisfying the minds of those who have put it in circulation, that it is earnestly requested that they would desist therefrom; and that it is believed by some that they have been stimulated more by desire to injure the reputation of certain persons than by a philanthropy for the peace and welfare of myself and friends.

(Signed) Joseph Smith

Palmyra, September25, 1824 2

The elder Smith was denying that Alvin's body had been exhumed and "dissected" and he purported to prove this by digging up the body and examining it. The statement scolded rumor mongers and asked for an end to the affair. But Smith Sr.'s statement is misleading, to say the least. The first clause infers that Alvin was rumored to be the victim of grave robbers who stole corpses to sell to medical schools: ("...removed from the place of his interment and dissected.") New York state had passed a law in 1813 to stop that practice and some of the precise language of the statute was evoked by Smith Sr. 3 But those who stole corpses for profit used only fresh bodies. A body buried in the earth ten months previously that had passed through the dampness of winter and then the heat of summer obviously would not qualify. The issue was a red herring.

Smith's statement suggests the incident was aimed at himself: "...peculiarly calculated to harrow up the mind of a parent." He closes with a plea for "philanthropy for the peace and welfare of myself and friends." These phrases make Smith Sr. the center of attention�a sympathetic picture of an anguished parent-when he himself knew this was not true. The rumor-mongers referred to were all gossiping about Joseph Jr., not Joseph Sr. These separate bits of deception make it easier to doubt Smith Sr.'s version of what happened on or about September 25. Ironically, the statement inadvertency supplies information about what truly happened, which will be revealed in this paper.

BACKGROUND

The statement refers to Joseph Jr. briefly and in the most elliptical way possible: ("...desire to injure the reputation of [certain persons]"). This infers, very discreetly, that some of the gossip was directed against young Joseph and that was certainly true, given Moroni's requirements. Joseph Jr. was part of a group of money diggers who were deeply involved in occult study, occult ritual and who subscribed to a magic world view. The group's operations started about 1820 with Smith Sr. and the older Smith sons forming the core. 4

They soon attracted young neighborhood men who were of like mind. Alvin was the early leader. Apparently, he first saw the golden plates in his seer stone but could not break the enchantment and take them. 5 Joseph Jr. had shown a good deal of seeric promise and when Alvin lay dying he implored Joseph Jr. with great passion to continue the project. Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the boys, described the dramatic scene in her book. She also said that, "Alvin Manifested, if such could be the case, greater zeal and anxiety in regard to the Record that had been shown to Joseph, that any of the rest of the family;"6

There was a spiritual kinship existing between Alvin and Joseph because of their common metaphysical gift that was not present among the other sons. Eighteen year old Joseph Jr. clearly inherited Alvin's mantle as leader of the group as the 1824 audience with Moroni approached. Young Joseph was rather ingenuous and talked freely of his aspirations and visions as regarding treasure seeking. It was his cohorts and family who knew of the upcoming audience and the requirement to bring Alvin. There is plenty of precedent in occult lore for using a portion of a dead man as a substitute for the living man.

This would appear to be a case of using a talisman�an object that was magically "charged" by a magician so that it contained the presence of someone or something the magician wished to influence. Alvin's remains would be a talisman all right, but the bigger issue is that it would also involve necromancy.

Necromancy refers to invocation of the spirits of the dead, mainly to obtain information. Most authorities don't include in this category the genteel gatherings where a medium holds a seance in a darkened drawing room. Classical necromancy was an unlawful form of ceremonial magic, approached with fear and trembling. There are two kinds of necromancy�evoking the spirit of a dead man through ritual only, and working directly with the corpse to enliven it to speak. (Actually, the spirit of the departed, which had temporarily returned, would do the speaking.) Joseph Smith was thoroughly versed in the first type. This is what the audience with Moroni was all about. Anyone who wanted to use a portion of Alvin's corpse that was "charged" with his spirit would necessarily be involved in the second type.

ANALYSIS OF THE STATEMENT

Let us now examine the claims made in the newspaper statement. The second clause reads, "I, with some of my neighbors this morning repaired to the grave, and removing the earth, found the body, which had not been disturbed." But Smith Sr.'s account does not seem plausible. Alvin had been buried ten months earlier. The gravesite was probably familiar to a number of Smith 's family acquaintances since Alvin died in the prime of young manhood, seemingly sorely missed. "A vast concourse of people attended the obsequies," according to his mother. 7

Any sign of tampering on a nearly year-old grave would have been detected by signs of freshly dug earth. Even extremely careful work by a ghoul could not have been concealed in light of the amount of earth it would be necessary to move to reach a coffin buried in the usual fashion. In addition, grave robbers were notoriously sloppy. They worked at night, and as rapidly as possible, sometimes in a frenzy. They were usually under acute psychological stress.

A necromancer who hoped to secure a corpse for occult purposes was especially assailed by a feeling of compulsive dread because he knew that his purpose flouted all ordinary human mores. Therefore, if Smith Sr. truly wished to verify that Alvin's remains were undisturbed he would have had only to examine the gravesite for signs of tampering. If he went so far as to dig up an undisturbed grave and open the coffin he would himself create the conditions for the wildest kind of rumor mongering unless the operation was carefully handled as a kind of formal inquest.

The newspaper notice was indeed couched in the stilted language of an inquest but all substantiation is absent. It tells of the involvement of "some of my neighbors" but it does not identify them further, even to giving the number involved. The notice was dated September 25 and states the disinterment took place "this morning," and the notice ran every Wednesday in the Wayne Sentinel for six consecutive weeks but the wording never changed; verification by the neighbors was never published.

Surely neighbors who accompanied a wronged and outraged father in such a grim task would want to complete the clearing up of ugly rumors if it all happened the way Joseph Smith Sr. said it did. Not giving their affidavits nullified the value of their effort, like laboring all day for an employer and then not bothering to pick up their wages. Furthermore, that the notice ran for six weeks meant that it did not put a stop to the rumors. Putting a notice in the newspaper drew even more attention to the affair�unnecessarily, if the grave had been undisturbed.

If we accept Smith's statement at face value his action seems hysterical, more likely to raise suspicion and draw additional attention rather than diminish it. Moreover, where is Joseph Jr.'s part in the statement? Obviously, he was the one under suspicion of opening the grave because of the requirements of Moroni. Apparently, he did not even accompany his father and the neighbors on the purported investigative visit to the grave.

Did Joseph Sr. even ask Joseph Jr. about the rumors before the opening of the grave? If Joseph Jr. denied the allegations then was the father so lacking confidence in the denial that he decided to check for himself? If the father and son were of one mind in cleaning up the rumors they should have acted together, gone to the gravesite together, and issued a joint statement. The only acceptable reason for Joseph Jr.'s absence is that he was out of the neighborhood at the time, and Smith Sr. would have used this reason if it were so. We know Joseph Jr. was home as recently as September 22.

The newspaper statement was dated September 25. That leaves only three days after the audience with Moroni for the rumors of the grave robbing to become so virulent that Smith Sr. decided to put a stop to them. But public rumors spreading far beyond the inner circle of money diggers would not crop up of their own accord after the audience.

Shortly after daybreak of September 22 it was already know by the Smith family that the audience was a failure. That would be an indication that Alvin's remains were not taken, if anything. So the rumors which exploded into life were based on more than speculation.

The disturbed grave for disturbed it surely was before Joseph Sr. ever go there clearly had something to do with Joseph Jr.'s audience with Moroni. The traditional interpretation of the meaning of Smith's statement has been that it was an incident of inexplicable malice, but that was before knowledge of the depth of Joseph Jr.'s occult activities surfaced in the last decade or two.

WAS SOMEONE ELSE RESPONSIBLE?

Another aspect of Smith Sr.'s account which does not parse in the extreme haste with which he acted on September 25. On that day Smith Sr. purportedly rounded up the neighbors, disintered Alvin's body, re-interred it and issued the statement attesting to the facts. That certainly would be physically possible, but the circumstances just mentioned weakened Smith's case considerably; i.e., the absence of Joseph Jr., lack of corroboration by the neighbors.

That these problems were not corrected in the ensuing five weeks weakens it even further. But if Smith Sr. was suddenly confronted with the discovery of an open grave and suspected or knew that Joseph Jr. did it we can understand his actions better. Who else would have done such a thing? If this was only a prank it certainly was a malicious one. We have to consider the prank possibility, however.

The prank�if such it was�was vicious in its intent and extremely effective. The scenario unfolds this way: Someone close to Joseph Jr. who was motivated by jealousy at being left out of the golden plates project or by disgust regarding it, dug up a considerable amount of earth knowing the blame would fall on Joseph Jr. The prankster would essentially be calling attention to the necessity of Alvin's remains being a part of the scheme which would hold up the whole venture to scorn and Joseph Jr. to disgrace.

There are two objections to this theory. The first is that someone who knew the details of the first spirit audience and the requirements for the second and who realized that a portion of Alvin's corpse could meet the requirements was in the inner circle of the Smith family money diggers. A disaffected member could probably be identified, and violent retaliation by the male members of the Smith family could not be ruled out. Furthermore, none of the company wanted to see Smith fail, as far as we know. After he "obtained" the plates they demanded their share or attempted to steal them outright, but they all recognized that Joseph Jr.'s access to the spirit was superior to their own.

The second and stronger objection is that if the prankster bought into the treasure digging magic world view he would not have dug up the grave for such an unworthy purpose as spite because that was exceedingly dangerous. When we read of the activities of Smith's and other groups we are struck by how they declare to themselves, to each other, and to unseen spirits that their motives are pure. They even attempted to keep their thoughts pure while digging, and even then they proceeded with trepidation if they felt they were possibly offending an evi1 spirit.

The occult viewpoint considered that spirits of the dead never liked to be annoyed or even summoned. Necromancers, especially those who worked directly with the corpse, had to have worthy recalcitrant spirit through force of will. 8 A prankster who uncovered the grave would be desecrating Alvin's corpse, slandering Alvin's brother and mocking the golden plates venture. Alvin's dying words to his brother were, "Do everything in your power to obtain the record. Be faithful in receiving instruction, and in keeping every commandment that is given to you."9 Anyone who believed in the possibility of Alvin's spirit taking retribution would be unlikely to challenge all that.

Besides these objections, we can refer to the newspaper statement. If we try to take the prankster theory seriously, this is where the absence of Joseph Jr. hurts the most. He, not Joseph Sr., would have been the outraged victim and likely would have been the driving force behind the investigation. He would�or should�have explained why he was not the perpetrator. It was not a situation that fell into a legal context. Innocent until proven guilty). If Joseph Jr. was being maligned unfairly and publicly as a ghoul he should have issued an icy retort, branded his accusers as contemptible, and only then said no more. He certainly was not a timid young man. Instead, the statement that was released was given solely from the father's perspective. Joseph Jr.'s absence from the statement does not seem like dignified silence. It seems like a tacit admission of guilt to what the rumors attest.

CEREMONIAL MAGIC

It is a certainty that the Smith family talked over the problem beforehand of satisfying Moroni's requirements and considered their options.10 They were dealing with an aspect of ceremonial magic, which is chiefly concerned with the art of dealing with spirits. Summoning a spirit required following a formalized ritual with many exacting rules.

The Smith family money digging team was already attempting to follow ceremonial rules correctly with their well-documented use of consecrated circles, swords, animal sacrifices to guardian spirits, etc. 11 They learned their rites from various occult source books, some of which we have been able to identify because of tangible evidence the Smiths left behind.

Professor Quinn has done a superlative job of studying the Smith family magic implements, especially the magic parchments, and analyzing the intricate symbols and text. He has shown that the parchments were copied directly from books of, or about, the occult by Ebenezer Sibly, Reginald Scot, Francis Barrett, and Cornelius Agrippa. Mr. Quinn names the books and even their particular editions.

Joseph, Jr. eventually became quite diligent about following correct procedures, to the point that by 1827 he presented an eerie sight when he went to meet Moroni. (He dressed himself entirely in black clothing and rode "a black horse, with a switch tail"12 under a full moon because Moroni�or a passage from an occult book�required it.) In 1823, however, his expertise was apparently still spotty, for he made an assumption that clouded his recognition of whom he was communing with. Joseph considered Moroni to be "an angel," but Moroni had described himself to be the spirit of a mortal man who had lived in the region many centuries ago. This should have alerted Joseph that he was dealing with the spirit of a dead man and that he had to carry out the appropriate rituals described in the occult books he had accepted as truthful.

MAGIC--NECESSITY OF A PARTNER

Someone who wanted to evoke the spirit of a dead man was supposed to perform the ritual with the help of a partner or apprentice. One of Smith's source books, Scot's DISCOVERIE OF WITCHCRAFT stated this several times in the most uncompromising way. On page 238,13 (Chapter 13, The Forms of Adjuring or Citing of the Spirit Aforesaid to Arise and Appear), appears "...rehearse in your own name, and your companions for one must always be with you) This prayer following...". Another such statement appears on page 244 and the author, Scot, even reiterates it in a separate note in the margin: "For the conjurer...can do nothing to any purpose without his confederate."

On the preceding page of Scot's book are complex made circles (The Seals of the Earth) that the Smith family copied onto their "Holiness to the Lord" parchment.14 The page is the beginning of a chapter enticed "An experiment of the Dead." The same "booke" (grouping of short chapters) describes how to call a spirit into a crystal stone so that visions may be seen. Obviously, these passages must have often been studied by the Smiths, especially Joseph Jr.15

Page 218 of the same book also discusses the use of the two Seals of the Earth and says the magician "must have a companion with him when questioning the spirit of an ordinary man by opening the grave." We belabor this point to show that the Smiths should have been well aware of the necessity of a companion for Joseph Jr. in the audience with Moroni. This seems to be the reason Moroni demanded the presence of someone else besides Joseph Jr. in all the autumnal equinox ceremonies we know about,16 even if the companion was a different person each time. (Alvin in 1824, Samuel Lawrence in 1825 or 1826, Joseph's new wife Emma in 1827).

MAGIC �A COMMANDMENT OF GOD'

The Smith family took this requirement of Moroni's so seriously that they considered it "a commandment of God." The commandments of God that Moroni gave Smith from 1826 to 1827 were not anything from the Judeo-Christian heritage. They were not even especially religious in nature. By and large, they were rules of procedure that were consistent with centuries of tradition in ceremonial magic.

During Smith's first visit to the Hill, on September 22, 1823, he reached out and picked up the plates. Then he made his blunder of setting them aside temporarily and the plates slipped back into the hole beneath the stone. When Smith attempted to gather them a second time he was rebuffed by the creature that was "something like a toad", i.e., the infamous salamander. "Therefore I cried out unto the Lord in the agony of my soul, 'Why can I not obtain them?' Behold the angel appeared unto me again and said unto me, 'You have not kept the commandments of the Lord which I gave unto you. Therefore you cannot not obtain them."'17

It developed that the commandment that Smith had broken was Moroni's previous injunction that once having picked up the plates he was not to lay them down again, He was to immediately wrap them in a clean white linen napkin and take them straightway home and deposit them in a fine chest. A corollary to this purely ritualistic demand was that Smith should have an eye "single to the glory of God".

Joseph's mother understood the meaning of these injunctions. She wrote, "The angel told Joseph that the time had not yet come for the plates to be brought forth to the world, that he could not take them from the place wherein they were deposited until he had learned to keep the commandments of God not only till he was willing but able to do it." 18

So we see that the "commandments of God" referred to ceremonial details and mental attitudes. This is consistent with all grimoires on ceremonial magic. In that first appearance on the hill Moroni issued an additional commandment, that Alvin was to accompany Joseph the following year, in 1824.

The procurement of a substitute Alvin begins to look more like an absolute obligation by the late summer of 1824. Lucy Mack Smith wrote of this time, "...and supposing at this time that the only thing required, in order to possess them (the plates) until the time for their translation was to be able to keep the commandments of God and he finally believed he could keep every commandment which had been given him, he fully expected to carry them home with him."19

Evidently, the Smith family had made some arrangement about the requirement for Alvin's presence. It most likely did not involve a family decision to use Alvin's remains because the fact of the opened grave seemed to catch them so badly off guard. However, when we re-read Alvin's dying injunction to Joseph Jr. it appears that Alvin virtually sanctioned Joseph to bring his remains to the Hill if the need arose: "DO EVERYTHING THAT LIES IN YOU (sic) POWER to obtain the record. BE FAITHFUL in receiving instruction, and in keeping EVERY commandment that is given to you." (Emphasis added). When the requirement of Alvin's presence proved to be a stumbling block, Joseph had only to recall Alvin's words of solemn urgency for all the permission he would need.

MAGIC -- QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE RITE

Was there anything else impelling Joseph to take such a drastic step? We have only to look through the books that we know the Smiths were so familiar with. The books referred to are DE OCCULTA PHILOSOPHIA by Cornelius Agrippa, THE FOURTH BOOK OF (allegedly)20 AGRIPPA, THE MAGUS by Francis Barrett, A NEW AND COMPLETE ILLUSTRATION OF THE OCCULT SCIENCES by Ebenezer Sibly, and two books bound together and authored by Reginald Scot, THE DISCOVERIE OF WITCHCRAFT and A DISCOURSE CONCERNING DEVILS AND SPIRITS. The Smiths did not simply use isolated pages copied from these books because the books are a treasure trove of references, anecdotes, beliefs, and doctrines which cropped up in early Mormonism as set down by Joseph Smith.

The books quoted each other and borrowed from the same tradition�the occult lore of western Europe as set down in the 15th and 16th centuries. ALL of these books spoke of necromancy, from terse comments to elaborate instructions given in unsavory detail. All of the authors seemed to have a perverse fascination with the topic. None of them were comfortable with it. They were able to discourse easily enough about conjuring up evil spirits but to call back a living spirit into a rotting corpse seemed to affect the human psyche in a profound way� it was thrilling, repellent, and sinister.

Most of the writers denounced the practice�but sometimes the denunciation pro forma and was given with a wink to let the reader know how potent the practice was.21

Nevertheless, they conceded that necromancy performed upon the corpse was unmistakably Black Magic, or more properly, The Black Art. The practice was more or less codified by the time of the Renaissance and was known as The Ritual of Necromanac Evocation. It is described exhaustively in Sibly's book. The rite is described guardedly in THE FOURTH BOOK of Agrippa and again in THE MAGUS which quotes Agrippa's FOURTH BOOK extensively. The Ritual of Necromantic Evocation had as its purpose the questioning of the apparition�or of the corpse itself. This, of course, was not Joseph's motive in recalling Alvin. But the ritual instructed the practitioner how to get the soul back into the corpse and this did suit Joseph. He did not want an amulet of flesh that was dead and useless.

A.E. Waite, noted occult authority, summarized the pertinent passages from Agrippa's FOURTH BOOK (quoted in THE MAGUS) and noted: "The more intimate the knowledge possessed by the operator concerning the deceased person, the more easily he was supposed to call him up."22 Alvin certainly qualified to be exorcised by his brother.

In addition, folklore decreed that "the shade of the departed lingered in the vicinity of its grave for a period of twelve months."23 Again, Alvin qualified.

According to both Agrippa and Barrett the soul may be raised from the corpse only if the deceased was known to be evil, or if he had died violently or prematurely, or if his corpse lacked a proper burial. Now, Alvin was buried correctly�but he died prematurely. Any premature termination of life enhanced the magical value of human flesh, since it could then be assumed to contain some element of unconsumed vitality.24

Alvin also qualified on the "known to be evil" count. At Alvin's burial, the presiding minister alienated the Smith Family by strongly inferring that Alvin was condemned to perdition because he was not a church member in good standing due to his treasure seeking involvement.25 The Smith family might have rejected this graceless assessment but, oddly enough, this official pronouncement from a religious authority figure undoubtedly reassured Joseph that Alvin was in the correct category to be useful, necromantically speaking. Once more, Alvin qualified.

Scot's DISCOURSE... has this passage: "When desires and lusts, after Wife, or Children, House, Lands or Money, is very strong at their departure; it is a certain truth, that this same spirit...will be hankering after these things, and drawn back by the strong desires and fixations of the imagination, which is left behind it, Nor can it ever be at rest, till the thing be accomplished, for which it is disturbed. When treasure hath been hid, or any secret thing... there is a magical cause of something attracting the [spirit] back again."26

In other words, Alvin's deathbed interest in the golden plates would make it much easier to attract his spirit back again to his corpse if the necromantic practitioner had that venture in mind. Alvin qualified perfectly. Thus, on many counts, Joseph was eminently qualified to call Alvin's spirit back into his corpse and Alvin was an ideal candidate to respond.

Other comments about the practice include from THE MAGUS: "Necromancy has its name because it works on the bodies of the dead,...alluring them into the carcasses of the dead by certain hellish charms, and infernal invocations, and by deadly sacrifices and wicked oblations.27 There are two kinds of necromancy: raising the carcasses, which is not done without blood,..."28 This passage in THE MAGUS adopts a disapproving attitude toward the whole business but this is completely negated at the end when Barrett writes: "by what influences the body may be knit together again for the raising of the dead, requires all these things which belong not to men but to God only, and to whom he will communicate them." In other words, this stuff is out-of-bounds except to those chosen by God.

MAGIC�NECESSITY OF BLOOD

The passages just quoted indicate an additional ingredient not previously discussed, the necessity of fresh blood to be a part of any ceremony calling the spirit back into the corpse. This is indeed the case, and the various books are emphatic on this point. THE MAGUS, Book II Part II, and also Agrippa's FOURTH BOOK, p.l23: "In the raising therefore of these shadows, we are to perfume with new blood the bones of the dead." This tradition is ancient. Homer, in 800 B.C, was familiar with it.29

Practitioners of The Black Art regarded fresh blood as so potent that its use even overrode other defects in the Ritual of Evocation. Scot's DISCOURSE... gives an example on page 67 of conjuring up infernal spirits in which a 'fumigation" made up of sulfur, various unguents, and a mixture of man's blood and the blood of a black cat, "which mixtures are said to be exceedingly magical: so that without any other Addition, they say, this fumigation is able of itself to make such spirits to appear before the exorcist."

So it would seem that once Joseph acquired what he needed from the corpse he had to "activate" it with fresh blood. The question as to how Smith acquired the blood is not hard to answer. Waite's commentary on necromancy says blood is "indispensable."30 The question as to how Smith acquired the blood is not hard to answer. Joseph could have simply nicked his finger with his ceremonial dagger and squeezed out a small stream of blood to drip onto what was probably the severed hand of the corpse. It would not be the first time that Joseph had spilled fresh blood during a rite of ceremonial magic. He had probably used his own blood often since various rites described by Agrippa and Scot required the blood of the practitioner for the drawing of circles, of angelic characters, etc.

As to whether Joseph Jr. used his own blood or any fresh blood on Alvin's remains, it is impossible to be dogmatic, for this reason: The Rite involving the corpse, referred to by Agrippa and Barrett and given in detail by Sibly, is not the rite that Joseph was performing.

The Ritual of Necromantic Evocation was intended to be used on the whole corpse and the idea was to call the soul back into the corpse for a short tame so that the corpse could answer questions put to it by the practitioner. Joseph's reason for securing Alvin's remains was entirely different. He wanted to take a piece of Alvin to the Hill Cumorah, four miles away, because Moroni required Alvin's presence. We mention the use of blood because the Smith's various occult source books made it obvious that fresh blood was so effective in enlivening a corpse with the soul of its owner. It would be a logical move for Joseph to make and one he shouldn't have shrunk from since he had performed similar operations while treasure digging.

The FOURTH BOOK of Agrippa, page 123, directly addresses Joseph's situation when it tells how to call the spirit back into a portion of the corpse: "From hence it is, that the souls of the dead are not to be called up without blood, or by the application of some part of their relict body." This seems to give an option of using either blood or a body part. But the next page, 124, amplifies this: "...it behooveth us to take to whatsoever place is to be chosen, some principal part of the body that is relict, and therewith make a perfume in due manner, and to perform other component rites."

Once the "principle part of the body that is relict" was obtained, the practitioner had other duties to perform, which included fresh blood. Blood was always the 'ne plus ultra.' From THE MAGUS: "For there are in the blood certain vital powers," [this is] "no less wonderful than true."31 To perceive blood this way was to discover the key which would convert part of the flesh of a corpse into a true talisman. To an ambitious neophyte magician like young Joseph such a simple, dramatic and effective tool must have seemed irresistible. Its significance was not subtle, such as the distinction as to whether Moroni was a holy angel or the spirit of a dead man. So the use of blood by Joseph seems extremely likely, but ultimately speculative.

SMITH SR. -COPING WITH THE SITUATION

By now it has become obvious who opened Alvin's grave. Joseph Jr. must have regarded such a task with distaste but he was by now utterly absorbed in a quest that he regarded as having divine sanction. Joseph might have dug up the body a day or so before the meeting, or on the night of September 21, just hours before the midnight appointment, or even directly afterwards in a last desperate attempt to assuage Moroni.

The latter scenario best fits the circumstances and would have unfolded like this: Smith Jr.'s disappointing audience with Moroni followed by an impulsive decision to unearth the corpse. Moroni refusing the too-late gesture. Smith Sr. confronted with knowledge of the desecrated grave and a crises which threatened to besmirch the family name. A depressed and ashamed Joseph Jr. removing himself from the affair. Smith Sr. taking the high road and doggedly declaring that nothing was amiss.

We will proceed on the assumption that the father knew first hand that his son had opened the grave. All of the contradictions in the newspaper statement now make sense. An immediate explanation to the public was needed. Maybe Smith Sr. first tried taking responsibility for the deed himself by telling the first sensation seekers that he had heard the rumors too, so he had gone out and disintered the body but found nothing wrong.

Maybe he blamed the deed on a prankster and then actually went out with neighbors supposedly to see if the body was still there. It seems evident that at some point Smith Sr. did gather at the gravesite with others to resolve the situation, but the orderly steps described in the statement don't seem credible. If this investigation did occur it was slapdash, at best.

We have only Smith Sr.'s word that the body was not disturbed. If his son had opened the grave then Smith Sr. was also confronted with a pried open coffin and a mutilated corpse. Maybe Joseph Jr. had replaced the coffin lid, after a fashion. Maybe the mutilation was minimal Maybe only a finger was used. But the requirements of a charm would be fulfilled with more certainty by a hand.32

If Smith did uncover the corpse in front of bystanders it would not be hard for him to be the first and only one to examine the corpse and then announce his conclusions. We have no proof of mutilation but we are asserting it as a probability because the circumstantial evidence is so compelling. Once the momentous decision had been made to turn the first shovelful of dirt it seems unlikely that Joseph Jr. turned back. In his own mind, it was an utterly serious and worthy task. Maybe Smith Jr. had made only a desultory effort at covering the coffin and some of the neighbors helped to re-cover the body properly. Any of these situations could be explained by Smith Sr. with superficial glibness, Maybe some of the neighbors believed him and some didn't. But someone would have to challenge Smith's version if they wanted to disprove it and evidently no one had the stomach to do that. Even those who did not believe Smith Sr. could appreciate that he was caught in a deplorable situation that was not of his own making.

SUMMATION

We can declare dogmatically:

1) That the incident which prompted Smith's statement was related to Joseph Jr.'s audience with Moroni.

2) The grave was profoundly disturbed.

3) The same occult world view that allowed Joseph Jr. to invoke Moroni would have allowed him to substitute some of Alvin's remains for the living Alvin.

4) The presence of Alvin was a "commandment of God", and Joseph and Alvin were splendidly qualified to effect that presence.

5) The statement in the Wayne Sentinel is suspect.

Taking all this into account, we can confidently observe that the only interpretation of the newspaper statement that makes sense is that Joseph Smith Sr. knew his son was responsible for violating Alvin's grave and was trying to conceal the fact.

As for piecing together the actual details we have to rely on everything we know about the Smith family at this period and make educated guesses. Choosing what details to accept as the most logical does not really change the gist of the incident. Whether Smith Jr. walked to the Hill Cumorah or rode on horseback, whether he took a shovel beforehand or not, may never be known. That is why we have prefaced descriptions of the details with "probably", and "likely", and "maybe", etc.

These adverbs are chose to convey the degree of the author's certainty of the event happening. We have avoided presenting a scenario as possible just because there is no evidence to the contrary. Suggestions have been offered in which any one of several possible actions to support the main thesis of this paper. For instance, we cannot state dogmatically whether Joseph Jr. unearthed the corpse just before or just after the audience with Moroni. But either case is more likely than what is implied in the official statement: that no such thing happened. The final summary will set aside these qualifying adverbs and give the author's version of what probably happened.

We can now flesh out this interpretation of the events of September 22, 1824. Joseph Jr., his family, and the inner circle of the money digging company knew long beforehand that Alvin's death changed the circumstances of the 1824 audience. They hoped that the spirit being would accept the death as a reasonable excuse for Alvin's absence. The family talked over the problem and on the night of September 21 they dressed Joseph Jr. in Alvin's clothing with Alvin's personal articles in the pockets.

Joseph Jr. set out for the Hill Cumorah on foot, shortly after ten PM under a full moon. He canted his ceremonial dagger and robes with him. Most of the family stayed up all night awaiting the results. Joseph performed the ceremony of conjuration correctly and at midnight Moroni appeared. When Joseph was informed that without Alvin he could not have the plates he concluded this was a problem he could solve. He quietly returned home, surreptitiously picked up a shovel and hurried to the gravesite.

With roiling emotions, he dug up the corpse, murmuring prayers and incantations the whole time. He took what he needed and hastily recovered the corpse. He returned to the Hill Cumorah and implored Moroni for another audience. Moroni either did not appear at all or else told Smith that his effort was useless, to try again the following year.33 He returned home after daybreak, physically and emotionally exhausted. He told his family the entire train of events, of failure at every turn, and fell into bed.

Smith Sr. went out in the sunlight to pack down the earth around Alvin's grave as needy as possible. Other members of the money digging team, intensely curious, came to the Smith home and were told that Joseph failed to obtain the plates. They learned then, or very shortly afterward on their own accord, that Alvin's grave had been violated. The knew who had done it and why. This development was so sensational and so impossible to keep secret that they started bruiting the whole story around the countryside. Within a day or two the appalling rumors begin to reach the Smith family. Smith Sr. was confronted with an impossible situation. Joseph Jr. had acted rashly but he was only doing his best in a project that involved the entire family.

Soon the senior Smith launched his investigative charade and issued his forlorn newspaper statement which pasted a fig leaf of propriety over the whole affair. The episode might seem peculiar to chose who read about it 164 years later but to Smith Sr. it seemed like the reasonable dining to do at the time. Likewise with his son. His actions might seem horrific to an outside observer but they seemed perfectly reasonable to Joseph Smith Jr.

APPENDIX

Perhaps the chief objection that will be made against the claims of this paper are the purely physical demands made on Joseph Smith Jr. The Smiths were poor in 1824 and did not seem to own any horses for transportation. Joseph probably trekked all night on foot. As a child, Joseph suffered a severe shinbone infection which left him with a lifelong limp. This did not hamper his ability to walk long distances and he was reported to have done so periodically for most of his life. Joseph was an unusually robust you man. Almost nineteen years old, he would be at the height of his physical powers of endurance.

Referring to the map, we can see that the three point axis of Joseph's route on September 21-22 was connected then, as now, by a fine road in level country. The Hill Cumorah was just 150 feet high and the site of the audience was only a hundred yards from the road. Joseph walked two and tree quarter miles from his home to the site on the hill. He was informed by Moroni that without Alvin there would be no plates; this was probably shortly after midnight.

Then, according to the thesis in this paper, he walked two and three quarter miles back home to pick up a shovel. He walked one and three quarter miles to the Church St. Cemetery. He spent an hour or more unearthing the coffin. He spent half an hour recovering it. He was tired but barely aware of it because he was ready to consummate his mission which had to be accomplished before dawn. It was already approaching 4:00am. He rapidly walked four miles back to Hill Cumorah. Then he met failure a second time. He straggled home as the sun rose, having covered fourteen miles on foot and engaging in at least an hour of furious digging. In addition, he may have undergone a modified fast for a day or two or three, since that was common in rites of ceremonial magic. Clearly, this was a physical trial that would tax Joseph nearly to his limit.

Happily, we are able to propound this as within Joseph's capability because his mother devoted several pages of her book (pages. 124-127) to describing a very similar ordeal undertaken almost five years later. Smith was under terrible stress at the time. Against his better judgment, Smith had allowed Martin Harris to go off on a trip for a few days while carrying the only copy of the translation of the plates. Smith had not heard from Harris for three weeks and was in great anxiety.

In the same period, Emma had given birth to the* first child. The child was stillborn and Emma hovered near death. Joseph was forced, nevertheless, to take a stagecoach to check on Hams. After traveling many hours without food or sleep he disembarked the stage at 10 PM. He walked twenty miles through a forest, finally arriving at his destination just before daylight. He needed the help of a stranger to lead him by the hand for the last four miles, but this journey seems even more daunting than the earlier one.

(Guinn Williams is a resident of Los Angeles who works in home remodeling. He has been a student of Mormonism for many years, ever since a close friend became a Mormon. He is particularly interested in the source and power of the religion. His research has led him to investigate the occult roots of Mormonism, which he believes are the key. This seems to have been borne out by the recent outpouring of information about Joseph Smith's money digging and sorceries.)

1] D. Michael Quinn, EARLY MORMONISM AND THE MAGIC WORLD VIEW, 1987, p.l36.

2] Fawn Brodie, NO MAN KNOWS MY HISTORY, 2nd ea., 1971, p.28.

3] Statute passed by the 36th session of the NY state legislature, (1813), Chapter CXXIV, "And Act to prevent digging up and removing dead bodies for the purpose of Dissection."

4] E.D.Howe, MORMONISM UNVAILED; 1834, affidavits of Willard Chase and William Stafford.

5]Article by John Dart, LOS ANGELES TIMES, 1985.

6] Lucy Mack Smith, HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH BY HIS MOTHER; ed.by Preston Nibley;1945, p.89.

7] Lucy Mack Smith, ibid. p.89.

8] MAN, MYTH AND MAGIC, encyclopedia edited by Richard Cavendish, 1983, v.7, p.l953.

9] Lucy Mack Smith, ibid., p.81.

10] Historian Jan Shipps has demonstrated that the Smiths regarded the golden plates venture as a family project. Ha book, MORMONISM, THE STORY OF A NEW RELIGIOUS TRADITION, analyzes the preliminary manuscript by Mother Smith which gave rise to her book published in 1853.

11] Jerald and Sandra Tanner, MORMONISM, MAGIC AND MASONRY, Modern Microfilm, 1983, p.3134.

12] E.D. Howe, ibid., cites Willard Chase, p.242.

13} This citation uses the modern reprint of Scot's book from Southern Illinois Univ. Press, Carbondale, 1964.

14] To be precise, their drawing was copied from Sibley's book which borrowed heavily from Scot, including the two seals. Dr. Quinn has shown that the Smith family used both books.

15] Joseph Jr. sought treasure, observed spirits, and allegedly translated the golden plates, all by seeing visions in his seer stones.

16] Joseph's very first experience with Moroni took place in his bedroom, the night before he first went to Hill Cumorah specifically to get the plates with Moroni's help. No companion in the bedroom is mentioned. Joseph underwent a ceremony in which he tried to contact "some kind of heavenly messenger."(Quinn, ibid. p.ll8, citing Oliver Cowdery) Professor Quinn implies the ceremony was one described in Scot's DISCOVERIE OF WITCHCRAFT to conjure up the spirits Paymon, Bathin and Barma (ibid. p.l20). They were fallen angels, not dead men. Instead, Moroni appeared, but not on Joseph's initiative. But after that first meeting Joseph should have known that when invoking Moroni, on his own initiative, a companion was required.

17]Quinn, ibid., p.l23, cites HISTORY OF THE CHURCH and others.

18] Lucy Mack Smith, ibid., p.81.

19] ibid., p.83.

20It is commonly acknowledged that THE FOURTH BOOK is a skillful forgery, similar in style to the three authentic books by Agrippa. This fact has not affected its acceptance by occult practitioners in the slightest.

21] Scot's DISCOURSE... is an exception. It contains a long condemnation of the practice, based on theological truths, which can hardly be improved upon.

22] A E. Waite, BOOK OF CEREMONIAL MAGIC, 1961 ea., p.324.

23] THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO THE SUPERNATURAL, encyclopedia edition by Sarah Litvinoff, 1986; many other encyclopedias.

24] Cavendish, ibid. vol.7, p.l954.

25] Years later, in the Kirkland temple, Joseph Smith related a vision he had of seeing Alvin in the Mormon Celestial Kingdom

26] Reginald Scot' A DISCOURSE CONCERNING DEVILS AND SP~ITS, 1665, the later edition, p.41. This book is bound with Scot's THE DISCOVERE OF WITCHCRAFT and printed for Andrew Clark and dedicated to Sir Roger Manwood.

27] "0blations" refers in this case to various potions which always included men's or animal's blood. 28Francis Barrett, THE MAGUS, 1801, reprint edition by University Books, 1967; Book II, Part 1, p.69.

29] Antiquities specialist E.O. James comments in ORIGINS OF SACRIFICE: "Letting blood drip over a corpse is to strengthen the deceased in the grave. In the classical mythology of Greece and Rome it is this belief which is expressed in the story of the visit of Odysseus to the underworld by way of the land of the Cimmerians. Here he dug a trench and poured into it the blood of black victims and soon the shades gathered around clamoring for blood. As the requests were granted, they slowly revived and became animated." The animal sacrifices that Smith made during treasure digging sessions were usually described as black dogs and black sheep. (Tanner ~ Tanner ibid., p.32-34; collections of affidavits by William Stafford, C.R. Stafford, accounts by W.D. Purple, Hiel Lews, and Emily Austin.

30] Waite, ibid., p.324.

31] Barrett, ibid. Book II, Part 1, p.l6.

32] Agrippa recommended "a principle part of the body", and goetic practitioners were conscious of decorum. To gouge out a chunk of flesh indiscriminately would be unseemly. Taking an organic entity was preferable, and the hand was "nobler" than the foot. There even existed a tradition in the occult of obtaining a hand from a corpse. This was the "Hand of Glory," cherished by thieves since the Middle Ages, though 3probably used only rarely.

33]Ceremonial magic included rules of timing and preparation. Smith had advanced part way through the ceremony with Moroni but was brought up short when Moroni inquired after Alvin. If Smith thought he could go off for a few hours to solve the problem and pick up again where he left off, he was mistaken.

http://www.Saintsalive.com/mormonism/necromantic.html

 

Basic Doctrines of the Mormons
A. TEN REASONS WHY I CANNOT BE A MORMON by Rev. John Hornok (removed Biblical view)

1. MORMONISM DOES NOT TEACH THAT THE BIBLE IS THE INFALLIBLE WORK OF GOD.

"We believe the Bible to the the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the book of Mormon to be the word of God" (Articles of Faith, No. 8).

2. MORMONISM TEACHES THAT GOD IS AN EXALTED MAN AND HAS A PHYSICAL BODY.

"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 345).

4. MORMONISM TEACHES THAT JESUS WAS MARRIED AND THE HE IS POLYGAMOUS.

"We say it was Jesus Christ who was married at Cana of Galilee" (Journal of Discourses, Vol 2, p. 80). Mormonism teaches that Jesus was the natural child of Adam and Mary. "When the Virgin Mary conceived the Child Jesus....He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is his Father? He is the first of the human family" (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, pp. 50-51). No longer taught

5. MORMONISM TEACHES THAT THE TRUE CHURCH CEASED TO EXIST UNTIL IT WAS RESTORED TO JOSEPH SMITH.

The church (LDS) was restored April 6, 1830 by Joseph Smith (Doc. & Cov., 20:1).

6. MORMONISM TEACHES ANOTHER (PERVERTED) GOSPEL THAN THAT OF THE BIBLE.

The gospel to Mormonism is: "Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Holy Spirit by laying on of hands, Morality, Loyalty, Tithing, Word of Wisdom, Duty Celestial Marriage (for eternity)" (LDS chart of FREE AGENCY and Articles of Faith, No. 4).

7. MORMONISM TEACHES SALVATION FOR THE THE DEAD BY PROXY WATER BAPTISM

This doctrine is based on one misunderstood Scripture: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Cor. 15:29).

Paul did not practice baptism for the dead. He excluded himself by using the pronoun "they" rather than "we" or "ye". He is asking a question rather than making a statement. "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27).

8. MORMONISM TEACHES GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH FOR THE DEAD

"Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let u present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worth of all acceptation" (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 128:24).

9. MORMONISM TEACHES THAT THERE ARE MODERN DAY PROPHETS AND MODERN DAY REVELATIONS FROM GOD.

Mormonism claims that Joseph Smith received the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist. The Melchizedek Priesthood and Apostleship was restored by Peter, James and John shortly afterwards in 1829 (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 13).

10. MORMONISM TEACHES THAT SALVATION DEPENDS UPON GOOD WORKS AND ACCEPTANCE OF JOSEPH SMITH.

"No man who rejects the testimony of Joseph Smith can enter the kingdom of God" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1 pg. 190). "Men have work to do it they would obtain salvation" (Doctrines of Salvation. vol. 3, pg 91).


B. Is Mormonism Christian?(from Questions & Answers, Ex-Mormons for Jesus )

True or False Answers
1. Mormonism teaches that there is more than one God. (true)
2. Mormonism teaches that Jesus Christ is the spirit brother of Lucifer. (true)
3. Mormonism teaches that Jesus Christ was born after sexual intercourse between God the Father and Mary. (true)
4. Mormonism teaches that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones. (true)
5. Mormonism teaches that God the Father was once a man. (true)
6. Mormonism teaches that we can become gods, and rule over our own planets. (true)
7. Mormonism teaches for a half-century that Adam is our Father and God. (true)
8. Mormonism teaches that Jesus Christ is a polygamist. (true)
9. Mormonism teaches that negroes have dark skin because they are cursed by God, and are an inferior race.(true)

www.serve.com/larryi/ldsbd.htm
 

Who's That Knocking at My Door?
Ed Decker

There are very few homes in America that have not had the Mormon missionaries at the door. Meanwhile, thousands of families are being invited to "Family Home Evenings," "Firesides,� and Church socials (geared "just for them") by Mormon friends and neighbors.


Enough Christian people respond to the freshly scrubbed faces and clean-cut look of the Mormons' "We would love to love you" approach to proselytizing that Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religious groups in the United States. But what does the Christian really know about Mormonism and even if you did know, what do you say to that Mormon Missionary ringing your front doorbell? Well, as one who has been out there ringing the bell, I would like to share a few thoughts with you.



IS THE MORMON CHURCH A CHRISTIAN CHURCH?

First, understand that the Mormon Church likes to refer to itself as a Christian Sect. Sect is defined as a separate doctrinal group within a larger group. But Mormonism is NOT a separate doctrinal group within the Christian body. It teaches a different God, a different Jesus, and a different Heaven and Hell. It places the validity of the Bible in serious doubt, and proclaims new and different "Holy Scriptures." Its eternal doctrines or "gospel" and master plan of salvation are directed by the god of this earth through a living "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator" to whom the members must demonstrate total obedience.


Mormonism is correctly categorized as a CULT. Cult is defined as group or system of religious worship and ritual focusing on uncommon doctrine and a very esoteric deity. It is assuredly, a Christian based cult, using as its main theme the Old Testament Law and Priesthood, with a form of the New Testament Christ�But He is different in function and power and purpose than the Lord Jesus so clearly described in the Bible.


Mormonism uses the same terms that the Christian uses, but they are not the same in meaning. Therein lies the trap. The unwary person hears of the joys of the gospel, the love of Christ, and God's desires for us and then steps in the realm of the subtle "doublethink," falling prey to a missionary teaching plan not given out of the hearts of the young men there in your home, but created by some of the cleverest sales psychologists in the world.


If your door knockers were "Moonies" from the Unification Church, it would be a lot simpler. It is very visible as a Christ denying centered cult. For in it, you either believe that Christ returned as a Korean man named Reverend Moon or you don't. Mormonism isn't that easy. It sits just a tiny little millimeter below the surface of Christianity, and its outward appearances are all the American ideal. Its millions of dollars that are spent in public relations programs see to that.


The Utah Christian Tract Society, of La Mesa, California, published in its March/April 1978 Newsletter, a most succinct description of a cult. It said, "All cults embrace one or more of the following tenets: They either humanize God, deify man, minimize sin, or ostracize the Scriptures. Mormonism uses all four of these tenets to bring forth false doctrines." It is not a Christian church, friends. It is a Cult!



WHO IS FOOLING WHOM?

It is absolutely essential that you understand that the majority of the Mormon people believe with all their hearts and souls that they are serving the True God and you are the lost one. They are totally bound by spiritual law to work their good works in order to become Gods and Goddesses, just like their own God (and his many God-wives) did during their testing time, on a world like this one.


But the key is that they believe they are doing the will of God in reaching out to you. They are doing it out of true love for you, no matter how misinformed and misled by their Prophet. You have to remember that the Lord loves them just as much as He loves you, and most certainly His concern for them is even greater. His love never diminished when we were away from Him in sin. His heart went out to us in love and concern just as He is reaching out in love for his children lost in the doctrinal quicksand of Mormonism.



OK, WHAT DO I DO NOW?

If you are at that point where you are firmly convinced that Mormonism is a cult, and one that is a definite danger to the unaware Christian, you have one of two possible steps of action. First, you can do nothing at all. Avoid them like the plague. Slam the door when they knock! Do a fast 180 degree spin and a four minute mile every time one speaks to you! It is honest, effective, and will most definitely keep you out of the Mormon Church.


The other step is hardly comfortable and can be taken only as far as your own Christian maturity and confidence will carry you. However, you will not be marked for special punishment if you do encounter a missionary duo and fail to wrestle them to the ground and armlock them through the four steps to salvation!


Remember that Christians are normally a piece of cake to them and they run into four or five fired up Baptists every day. You might get one stray pair of Mormon missionaries a year.



WAHT DO YOU SAY TO A WOLF?

Matthew 7:15 says, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves." The Scripture gives insight to the problem, and yet, it also reveals the solution. The Mormon missionary presents himself to you as a member of the flock. This is the flock Jesus referred to in John 10:27,28: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." The missionaries appearance, his countenance, his speech all say "Hi, I'm a sheep, just like you. I look like you, I smell like you, I say �Baa', just like you, so I must be a sheep just like you."


What you can't see is that under the surface, a wolfskin lurks! But the missionary doesn't really see it either, because he thinks that just under the first sheepskin cover is another sheepskin. He thinks that he is there to lure you out of this lost flock and into the fold he came from. And he is willing to "pretend a little bit" to get the job done. It is in your best interest, after all. Therein lies the subtle answer. The Mormons are trained to see this slight deceit as a necessary camouflage.


When exposed down to this assumed natural sheepskin, they are comfortable with the discovery.


Your job (should you choose to accept it) is to strip back the second layer of false wool and reveal the fur they were cloaked in when they swore eternal allegiance to the Holy Priesthood and the ravening wolf/false prophet, Joseph Smith. You see, the startling fact is that they do not know about this part of their nature. They are like the Emperor who thought his new clothes were just as perfect as they could be until a little child finally told him the truth�he was naked!


You have the truth and the truth can set them free! You don't have to debate every tenet of the Mormon doctrine at your front door. You only have to force the missionaries to be honest with you and with themselves. The Truth and Jesus will do the work.



RULES OF THE GAME

First, you had better examine your motives. If you are going to "show them a thing or two," or if you are going to dazzle them with your lightning knowledge of the Scriptures, you are going to lose and worse, they will lose, too. If a Mormon is being attacked, he knows it. Believe me, because I knew it when it happened to me. He will harden his heart to you and slap up and impenetrable wall the instant someone pokes him in the chest and says "Listen here, Buster!"


You may win the argument, but I guarantee that you will go a long way in losing that soul for Jesus.


Your motive has to come out of a burden of love for that Mormon missionary, that neighbor, that friend. You have to prayerfully cleanse out "self" from the effort and recognize that you can only be effective if you are an open channel of God's love. So your approach must be only in Christ's love. Just pray. "Lord, cleanse me, right now, use me as YOUR HAND extended. I yield myself to this love. Let your Holy Spirit anoint these moments with Your love, Your truth, and Your gentle grace."


Secondly, without leaping about and jumping on the poor, unsuspecting Mormon, bind the spirits of priestcraft, contention, and Mormonism from your door and plead the shed blood of Jesus upon you house. Pray that the Holy Spirit enter therein and bring His peace, truth, and understanding. I know that this all sounds a bit heavy, but I've witnessed it scores of times praying that prayer and scores of times without doing it. Take my word for it, it worked when I pray, and my witness suffers when I do not. Ephesians 6:12 says, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." In fact, read verses 10 through 20 for Paul's inspired guidance in this important area.



HURRY UP, HERE THEY COME!

The list of "dos and don'ts" in witnessing to Mormons can be quite long, but for simplicity, there are three critical "do's":

1. Control the Encounter. Even though it is your house, if you don't control the encounter, they will. You must be assertive in this. You should open the discussion with prayer and immediately go into the questions you wish to ask them. You should go through the questions step by step and then thank them, make your remarks, give a witness for Jesus, and you close in prayer.

2. Stick to the Subject. The minute you "pierce their armor," they will try to sidestep to another issue or attempt to change the subject by insisting on finding out about your beliefs. Stay on track and just summarize their response to the last questions and go on the next.

3. Emphasize Jesus Christ. Mention Jesus every chance you get. Remember that Mormons have "another" Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4) and are NOT familiar with the Bible's message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even though they use His name all the time.


Your missionary friends will say something like: "Good afternoon, we are representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. We would like to share a successful family program with you and your family, without any obligation on your part and with nothing to buy. May we come in for a moment?"

Your response: (You're not going to make it easy). I already have my own religion, I'm a Lutheran.

Their response: Wonderful. Our message is for families of all faiths. May we come in?

Your response: Yes. Come in for a moment, I'd like to ask you a few questions.


You are now seated with your Mormon visitors. You have stated that as people who wish to serve the Lord, and who seek truth, any such discussion in the spiritual realm should begin with prayer, and YOU LEAD IT! After everyone has said "Amen." tell them that you desire to know their motives or purposes for being there, and you would like to ask them a few questions. Ask them if this is agreeable to them. If not, gently ask them to leave. If yes, go into the first question.



20 QUESTIONS

Question (Q) l. I know that you are missionaries, but what is your purpose or your end desire for this visit?

Response: (R) (It will be in the nature of a statement that they would like you to learn about their church or "way of life.")

Question 2 Is the Mormon Church a Christian Church?

Response Well, of course it is. We bear you our testimony that it is.

Question 3 I'm a Lutheran. Is my church a Christian church?

Response There is truth is all faiths.

Question 4 That's not what I really asked you. Does the Mormon church believe that the Lutheran church is a Christian church in exactly the same manner and sense that it believes the Mormon church is a Christian church?

Response Not really, you see, we have some additional truths that we would like to share with you. (Don't settle for anything less than a no!)

You Respond: Simply put, you mean, NO!

Question 5 In fact, isn't it true that your church actually teaches that my church's creed is "an abomination in the sight of God," and it's professors (members) are all doctrinally corrupt? Do you believe this to be fully true?

Response (The Mormon must answer these Yes. It will be hard to extract from them, but stay with it until you get a flat unsoftened YES in each case).

Question 6 Is Jesus Christ Your Savior?

Response Yes, of course!

Question 7 Exactly what did Jesus Christ save you from?

Response From Physical death. He died to atone for Adam's transgression.

Question 8 Do you mean He atoned (personally paid) for your sins? (I Peter 2:24, Galatians 1:4).

Response Not exactly.

Question 9 Exactly, how are your personal sins atoned for?

Response (Will pertain to works and judgment of each person's works.)

Question 10 In other words, you are saying you believe that Christ's death paid for Adam's sin only and the immortality promised in the scriptures only means that we will be resurrected to be judged for our works?

Response Yes, (Don't settle for anything less!)

Question 11 Do you believe the Bible to be the Word of God?

Response Insofar as it is translated correctly.

Question 12 You believe then, that the Bible is basically in error? What percent? Where? What books? Chapters?

Response (They will avoid giving specific answers. Don't worry, you will never get one here.)

Question 13 When you appear before the final judgment, do you hope to become a God, just like our Heavenly Father is a God? Is that your goal?

Response Yes.

Question 14...Will your works have to include being a Mormon, being married in the temple, being a member of the Mormon Priesthood, doing your genealogy? Serving a mission? Attending all your meetings?

Response. Yes. (The Mormon will be reluctant to talk about the temple, so let him avoid it. The temple ceremonies are secret and held very sacred. Oaths are made that could put their very eternal lives at stake to talk about them.)

Question 15...Did our God have to go through such a process to become a God?

Response. Yes. (Don't settle for less!)

Question 16..Does He (our God) have a God over Him? Does that God have a God over Him, then?

Response Yes. Yes.

Question 17...Then if you do everything right, you will get a chance to become a God just like our God. Is that true?

Response Yes.

Question 18...What about Goddesses. Do you believe that God has a God-wife, our "Heavenly Mother?" In fact, more than one wife?

Response. Yes. (To both questions).

Question 19..Does this God of ours have a physical body? Did He pass through mortality before becoming a God? Just like you are hopeful of doing?

Response Yes.

Question 20..Are these teachings those which have been given in the "Restored" teachings taught by your prophet; Joseph Smith?

Response Yes.

Summary: Let's stop now and see if I'm correct in summarizing what you have said:

1. All "Christian" Churches except the Mormons are in error, all abominations before God.

2. The Bible is at best, a weak source of truth. It is in error and it's teachings about salvation are in error.

3. We must each earn our own salvation.

4. We can become Gods.

5. God was once a man but progressed into Godhood. So did our Heavenly Mother.

6. All this is known because God sent a prophet in these latter days.



A TRUE CULT
You must show your Mormon friends that these concepts are totally outside the scriptural concept of Christianity. In fact, they are signs of a cult...not even a sect. (Refer back to the section, "Is the Mormon Church a Christian Church?") Your goal here is to actually peel back both sheep-skin layers. Tell them you are not trying to debate their doctrine, but to establish IDENTITY.


First, they have shown you that they really are not the sheep of your Christian flock. They are at your house to pull you out of your flock and into the one they call home. Get them to admit that they are, in fact, being deceitful in encouraging others to consider them as "in the same flock."


Next, use the results of the questions to show that they really are not Christian sect. Go through the four tenets of a cult mentioned earlier, to show where they are out of "Christian order" in their thinking. Please remember, DON'T DEBATE THE PONTS. Just get them to see that there is a difference and that difference truly makes them not Christian but a Christian-sounding cult. Do not allow them to draw you into an argument.


The Lord will quicken their hearts to accept this truth. Your work in only to lay the information before them. The Holy Spirit will put it into their hearts.



THE MORMON TESTIMONY

When a Mormon gets into a corner with his theology, he reverts to the testimony. "I bear you my testimony that I know this is the true church, and etc../etc./etc.." It is a mechanical trained-up -from-the-cradle protective response. It means he is in trouble and it is his last resort. Be bold and break right in. (Yes, interrupt!) Just say, "How do you know it is true?" Or, "Where is the evidence?� Stop the testimony short in its tracks. It is a form of mind control or self hypnosis. Don't let them go under. It's a spell of blind obedience.


Tell them to open their Bibles to Romans 10. If they put up any argument, just tell them, "Look Elder, are you afraid to see what God has to say about this?" Read the 10th chapter of the Book of Romans verses 1-13. Ask the Mormons to pray with you that God reveal His true nature to them. God revealed in His Word that He was an unchangeable God, without beginning, without end. The same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is the ONE God Eternal. The Mormon blasphemy humanizes our God and glorifies man.



YOUR CHRISTIAN WITNESS
Friends, you are on your own from here on out. This short exercise has kept you out of the maze of conflicting doctrines normally tied to "finding out about Mormonism."


If they are still there, it is time for you to Witness Jesus Christ to these Mormons.


Witness JESUS...and your personal relationship with Him, what your life was like and how Jesus has set you free



IN CLOSING

Send your friends along their way. But pray with them before they go. If you can, hold hands when you pray.


Above all else, remember that God's Word does not return to Him void. You have planted seeds deep into their spirits. As they go forth, each time they encounter a Christian who will witness of the real Jesus, your words will come up to the surface of their minds.


This will be a continuing thing until that day when they, too, ask Jesus to be as real in their lives as He was evident in yours. It took many years and many Christian witnesses for this Mormon to come out of the darkness into the Light of Life. I wish I could go back to every single home I visited while a Mormon, every friend and neighbor I approached with my "different gospel," and ask their forgiveness. What a joy it will be to meet those Christians who witnessed Jesus with such love and concern for my eternal soul so many years ago. What a joy to clasp their hand and say "Dear friend, thank you for that seed you planted. Harvest time is finally come. Praise the Lord."

Bless you in His Holy Name.
-Ed Decker