So now the question is, which is true: traditional Christianity or Mormonism. To know, they must be put to the test. An objective thinker will know that perceived truths must be questioned. Real Truth will stand the test. If it is not true, it will fall, and is not deserving of our faith. The Bible also commands us to test everything. It says in l Thessalonians 5:21, "Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good." The Bereans, of the early church in Acts, were commended because they tested all teachings to see if they were true; even the teachings of Paul! Let us follow their noble example.

Mormons hold Jesus to be the literal son of Elohim. They claim he is: "our Redeemer and our Savior. Except for him there would be no salvation and no redemption" (What Mormons Think of Christ 25-26). In fact, this is a deceptive claim. True Mormon salvation has virtually nothing to do with the person of Jesus. Mormon salvation, or more correctly stated, exaltation, is a complicated quest. There is a general "salvation by grace," but this only means that one is resurrected to immortality, and this applies to everyone. An individual's exhaltation is much more complicated. Mormons claim there to be three levels of heaven: The Celestial Kingdom, Telestial Kingdom, and Terrestrial Kingdom. The Terrestrial Kingdom is the lowest, and where most of humanity will end up. To be in one of the lower two kingdoms is to be "damned." The Celestial Kingdom, which is the highest level, and where good Mormons will end up, has three levels in itself. Only in the highest level of the Celestial Kingdom is one truly exhalted: only here can one become a god himself (Mormon Doctrine 176-177)

How does one do this? The churth claims to believe in the Bible, "insofar as it is correctly translated" (The 8th Article of Faith), which basically means whenever it does not conflict with good Mormon theology. The real source of Mormon teachings come from the other Standard Works: The Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price (read a VERY interesting article on The Pearl of Great Price, and the Book of Abraham here). According to these, salvation is a process of works, faith having no real importance. Jesus' death only made it possible to be resurrected (What Mormons Think of Christ 28). The real path includes living a life of good works and temple participation. Keeping the whole law is absolutely central. Doctrines of Salvation 2:41 states: Those who gain exaltation in the celestial kingdom are those who are members of the Church of the Firstborn; in other words, those who keep ALL of the commandments of the Lord" (emphasis his). In a nutshell, a Mormon must be a member of good standing, tithing regularly, get a temple recommend, be sealed in the temple, becoming a member of the Aaronic and Melkchizedek priesthood's, and follow all of the Law. There is no way for a Mormon to be sure of his or her stance and eternal destination.

What I'm going to do here is state what I have learned to be the central Mormon doctrines pertaining to God, and gods.

"Here, then is eternal life- to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 346)

"The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like Himself... the Lord has organized mankind for the express purpose of increasing in that intelligence and truth, which is with God, until he is capable of creating worlds of worlds, and becoming Gods, even sons of God." (Brigham Young Journal of Discourse 3:93)

"As man is God once was, as God is man may become" (Articles of Faith 430)

Polytheistic; which is belief in more than one God. Elohim, the god of our world, is the literal father of Jesus, or Jehovah. Elohim was once a mortal man who progressed to the level of a god. Jesus, who is the spirit brother of Lucifer (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball 34) became a god in pre-existence without experiencing mortality. The Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost are separate entities. The Holy Ghost, who is the third member of the godhead, is also a man and one of the many sons of Elohim. The Holy Spirit is the "agent, means or uniform by which the will, power and intelligence of God, and the godhead... may be transmitted through space" (Evidences and Reconciliation 76). Near Kolob, God called a council of gods to decide how the earth would be created and saved. Jesus won the contest, Lucifer lost. There was war in heaven and Lucifer and his angels were cast out. All of us in our pre-existence, fought in the war; our skin color reflects how well we fought (the lighter the shade the better). Jesus came to earth, through relations between God and Mary (Gospel Principles 57), and died on the cross. Exaltation for each of us can be reached by living a worthy life and going through the temple ceremony; in the highest level of celestial glory we become gods ourselves.

I'm sorry to say, but almost everything above is in complete contradiction with the Bible. Let me explain.

First of all, the Bible is explicitly clear that there is only one God. Period. In the past, now and in the future, there is no other.

Isaiah 45:5 states: "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me"

Isaiah 44:8 says: "Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no god; I knownot any."

Deuteronomy 4:35 states: "Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none beside Him."

A common attempt to try to deny the clear teachings of these verses is that they only refer to this world. This is a faulty argument. Nowhere is there a disclaimer stating "when reading these verses, God is only referring to Earth." And look at Isaiah 44:8 again: "there is no God I know not any." Don't you think that of all intellects, God would be the one who would know if there were any other gods anywhere else? He would be a blatant liar to say something like that, knowing it were not the case, and it is quite clear that God does not lie. Summary: God makes it crystal clear that He, and only He, is God; to teach otherwise is blasphemous.

Following what we have established in the paragraph above, the belief that man can become a god is false. In fact, it is this exact same sin that got Lucifer thrown out of heaven. The Bible says that Lucifer, who was the most beautiful angel in heaven (he was not a god, nor the brother of Jesus; John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son...") was cast out of heaven for desiring to be like God. Clearly, there is only one God, and man can never become a god.

Now, let's examine just who God is. God is a spirit (John 4:24). The Bible defines a spirit as immortal, invisible and eternal (1 Timothy 1:17). This definition nullifies the Mormon teaching that God has a physical body; it also shows that the First Vision is not true. 1 Timothy 6:16 and John 1:18 clearly state that no one has seen, or can see, God. If the First Vision isn't true, if the basis and foundation of Joseph Smith's supposed calling as a prophet of God is false, his whole legacy is as well.

God is also eternal (Psalms 90:2). The LDS teaching that God was once a man, a created being, is not true. God always has been and always will be, from everlasting to everlasting, He is. Man is finite; God is infinite. God is omnipotent, omni-present, and omniscient.

You may ask "but what about all of the verses about the hand of God, or the eyes, arms, etc? Don't they prove that he has a body?" No, they don't. To teach this is extreme literalism without analysis of the context. These passages are simply using symbolism to describe attributes of God's nature. If you would still like to hold to the argument, then you must also believe that God is a chicken (Psalms 91:4), a loaf of bread (John 6:35) and plant life (John 15:1,5). Obviously, He is none of these. Neither does He have a physical body.

God is also three, yet one; this is the Biblical teaching of the trinity. The trinity is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost, Biblically, they are one and the same. "Spirit" comes from the Greek word pneuma, which translates into both "spirit" and "ghost" in the King James Version. There is no difference between the two.) together, as one God. They are not separate gods, Jesus was not created by God, they are God; one and the same. In Genesis 1:26 God states "let us make man in our image and in our likeness." We have already established that there is only one God, therefore, since God is not speaking to the angels, this verse demonstrates the togetherness of the three parts of God. Look also to verses John 1:1, John 17:15, Philemon 2:10-11, John 1:3, Revelation 3:14, John 10:30. God is unchanging. He can not and does not change. He exists, as He is, for all eternity; from before the beginning of time until forever.

A good example of this "Latter Day Revelation" is demonstrated in the 1978 declaration which let blacks finally hold the priesthood. Previously, the church had held that black men would never hold the priesthood because they held the "mark of Cain". The Mormon church teaches that black skin is the "mark of Cain" (Moses 6:40), that it is punishment for failures in the pre-existence. Joseph Smith said "Had I anything to do with the Negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species, and put them on a national equalization." (History of the Church 217-218) Brigham Young actually said "Shall I tell you the law of God in regards to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." (Journal of Discourse 290-291)

Clearly, the African race had no place in the early Mormon Church and was condemned by church doctrine. But, according to the church, God changed his mind in 1978, and the church changed its theology. The significance of this, and many other, changes in Mormon doctrine, supposedly the Gospel restored to Earth, should not be overlooked. We have already established that Real Truth is eternal, it does not change. The Bible also makes it explicitly clear that God does not change; that he is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Look also to Malachi 3:6, "For I am the same, I change not." James 1:17, Hebrews 1:12, Psalms 102:27 and Psalms 90:1-2 also agree. Even some of the LDS's own books agree. Mormon 9:9-10 says that God is "the same yesterday today and forever and in him there is no variableness, neither shadow of changing." Therefore, it must be stated that the Mormon doctrine of continuous revelation, that God would actually change what He has previously revealed, is blatantly untrue by any standard, and therefore has no place in a true Christian church.

This discourse is continued in The Bible vs. The Book of Mormon section.