Questions About Mormonism

The Church

The following are frequently asked accusatory questions about the mormon church and mormonism in general.

• Are mormons christians?
• Is the mormon religion a cult?
• If mormons aren't protestants or catholics, how are they christians?
• Why do mormons try to share about their church even when people aren't interested?
• Do mormons conceal their beliefs from the outside world?
• Are mormons brainwashed by their leaders?
• Shouldn't the church make an effort to respond to the ugly and false things that are said about it?
• Why is there so much animosity towards mormonism?
• Is it true that mormon in chinese means "gates of hell"?

Doctrines and Principles

• Do mormons believe in weird doctrines?
• Someone gave me a pamphlet on Mormons that contained some rather unusual statements quoted from "the Seer" newspaper and the Journal of Discourses. Is this material reflective of Mormon beliefs? (Answer)
• Are Latter-day Saints Christian if they teach another gospel (as Paul warns in Galatians 1:6-9)?
• Could you please tell me how to explain why Mormon doctrine has changed so much since it's founding, despite verses in the Bible and Book of Mormon that say God never changes?  (Answer)
• If Jesus was conceived as a result of a physical union between God and Mary, how was Jesus born of a virgin? (Answer)
• Do mormons believe that they are saved by their own works rather than by grace?
• Mormons believe Jesus was crucified for polygamy, not for claiming to be God. (Answer)
• Is Joseph Smith greater than Jesus Christ? (Answer)
• Why don't Mormons use crosses? Is it because you do not accept the blood of Jesus? (Answer)
• Does the Church tolerate sexual abuse? (Answer)
• One main thing that I object to is the spiritualism practiced in the Mormon church. (Answer)
• Why don't you keep Saturday as the Sabbath, instead of Sunday? (Answer)
• Do Latter-day Saints only trust in their feelings (e.g., a "burning in the bosom") and ignore facts and common sense? (Answer)

The Godhead

• 1) Don’t you know that your doctrine of becoming Gods isn’t Biblical? (Answer)

2) Do Mormons worship Adam as their God? (Answer)

3) Is Jesus the brother of Satan? (Answer)

4) Is God a Spirit? (Answer)

5) Mormons teach that God was once just a man like you and me. Can you not see the blasphemy in this? I have been told that LDS belief, does not hold that Jesus Christ is God, together with God the Father, and The Holy Spirit. Consequently, LDS can not be considered a Christian religion. To be considered a truly Christian religion, there must be belief in the Trinity or Triune God. I would appreciate your explanation. Thank you. (Answer)

6) You say you believe in Jesus, but you believe in a different Jesus! (Answer)

7) Doesn't the Mormon belief in more than one God go against Biblical teaching? The Bible teaches that there is only one God. (Answer)

8) Fifth LDS President Lorenzo Snow declared in June 1840, "As man is, God once was; God is, man may become".  Does this mean that the God of Mormonism once was a sinner (Answer)

9) I can't accept Mormons as Christians because you do not accept Jesus Christ as God. You think he was just an angel. You worship Joseph Smith as the true Messiah and teach that Jesus was just his forerunner. (Answer)

10) If God is unchanging, the same from eternity to eternity, how could he once have been a man? This seems to contradict his claim that he is the same from yesterday, today and tomorrow. (Answer)

11) Are Latter-day Saints polytheists? (Answer)

12) Since Jesus is identified as one of the spirit children of our Heavenly Father, then how can he be "the Eternal God"? (Answer)

Church History

• Is mormon identification with Christianity new?
• Are mormon church leaders evil men?
• Did Joseph Smith deliver prophecies that didn't come true?
• If Moroni devoutly practiced the Mormon Gospel, why is he an angel now rather than a God? (Answer)
• Why was Joseph Smith still preaching against polygamy in October 1843 after he got his revelation in July 1843 commanding the practice of polygamy? How did Joseph Smith become involved in polygamy, when the Book of Mormon specifically condemns it? (Answer)
• Brigham Young said, "I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture." (Journal of Discourses 13:95). Are all of Brigham Young's sermons considered scripture and official LDS doctrine? (Answer)
• Why is Joseph Smith considered a martyr?
• Why did the church's prophet get rid of polygamy, was it because of a revelation or was it just to appeal to the laws of man? (Answer)
• Do the various accounts by the Prophet Joseph Smith of his first vision demonstrate the validity of that event, or do they cast doubt on the Prophet's integrity? (Answer)
• Did Joseph Smith Suffer From Temporal Lobe Epilepsy? (Answer)
• If Church leaders are true prophets, why didn't the Lord reveal that the Mark Hoffman documents were forgeries? (Answer)
• What are the best evidences that Joseph Smith was a prophet? (Answer)
• Don't Church leaders have conflicting teachings on Plural Marriage?  Some say it's required and others say it isn't? (Answer)
• How does the church answer critics who point to changes in the revelations in the D&C? (Answer)
• If Gordon B. Hinckley is a prophet, why was he fooled by the fraudulent Salamander Letter and other fake documents from Mark Hoffman?  (Answer)
• Didn't Joseph Smith only start claiming to be a prophet and seer after he wrote the Book of Mormon? (Answer)
• The Book of Mormon seems to teach a Trinitarian view of God.  Doesn't this conflict with modern LDS teachings? (Answer)

The Book of Mormon

• If the Book of Mormon is true, then why has the Mormon church changed it? Jerald and Sandra Tanner have counted 3913 changes in the Book of Mormon, excluding punctuation changes. (Answer)
• Why did the angel take the Nephi Plates back to heaven? Do they not belong with man? Would not their existence prove once for all that Mormonism is truth? (Answer)
• What is B. H. Roberts' "Study of the Book of Mormon" and how have critics used it to discredit the Book of Mormon? (Answer
• What is the Spaulding manuscript? Was it the source of the Book of Mormon?
• and the Son of God WAS the Messiah who should come...(1 Nephi 10:17) Here is clear evidence that this fictional book was written AFTER the time of Jesus. (Answer)
• Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon contained the fullness of the gospel.  If that's true, then how come most unique LDS doctrines aren't in it? (Answer
• In the Book of Mormon there is a story of Coriantumr smiting off the head of Shiz (Ether 15:31).  Is it really possible for a man to rise after having his head cut off?
• Why are many verses exactly the same in the Bible and the Book of Mormon?

• Did Joseph Smith plagiarize from Shakespeare when writing the Book of Mormon?
• Did Joseph Smith plagiarize from 'View of the Hebrews' when writing the Book of Mormon?
• Where the verses are the same, why doesn't the Book of Mormon correct known errors in the King James text?
• Did Joseph Smith copy the names Moroni and Cumorah?
• Did the Smithsonian prove the Book of Mormon was false?
• Doesn't the Book of Mormon mention plants and animals that didn't exist in that time period?
• Why does the Book of Jacob end with a French word (adieu)?
• When Christ died, did darkness cover the land for three days or three hours?
• Don't Mormon apologists rely on such big "loopholes" for the Book of Mormon that no evidence could possibly invalidate it?
• Why doesn't the Book of Mormon have internal quotations like the Bible?
• How could a few people become a populous nation in a few years?
• Why aren't there real places and cities and peoples that match Book of Mormon places?
• How could a few working women cause the fall of Israel?
• How did Nephi make the ocean voyage from Arabia to the New World?
• How is it that the name "Jesus Christ" appears in the Book of Mormon prior to the time of Christ?
• How can the Book of Mormon use the word 'book' in 600 B.C.
• Why does the Book of Mormon refer to the crucifixion and the cross?
• Why does the word "synagogue" appear in the Book of Mormon if they came along after the time of Nephi?
• Why does the word "church" appear before the coming of Christ? There were no churches then.
• "[Don't you know that there are] many who have invented civilizations on the pages of books?  (Answer)
• Why does the Book of Mormon mention coins? Coins were not used in ancient Central America. That's an anachronism.   (Answer)
• The Jews were enemies of the Egyptians. How could they even think of using an Egyptian script to write sacred scriptures? (Answer)
• How can you explain Book of Mormon peoples using metal and weapons which were not invented yet?  (Answer)
• Why are Greek names such as Lachoneus, Timothy, Jonas, and Alpha & Omega in a book that should have absolutely no Greek influence?  (Answer)
• Doesn't the partiality of the Book of Mormon Witnesses invalidate the Book of Mormon? (Answer)
• Why Did Joseph Smith Preach Against Plural Marriage? Does the Book of Mormon Condemn Plural Marriage? (Answer)

The Bible

1) The Book of Mormon adds to the word of God! The Bible is the only inspired word of God. I am completely convinced of it! It contains all that we need to know in order to know how to spend eternity with God and how to live on this earth in the meantime. It is sufficient! (Answer)

2) Are all Latter-day Saint beliefs fully explained in the Bible?   (Answer)

3) How can Latter-day Saints be considered Christian since they accept more than the Bible as the Word of God? (Answer)

4) How can the Latter-day Saints justify having additional books of scripture and adding to the Christian canon? (Answer)

5) Doesn't the Bible teach that it is inerrant, complete, and all-sufficient? (Answer)

• Do you believe the Bible is as important as other Christians?

7) How do you respond to the Bible and the fact that it states that no one is to add or take away from it? (Answer)

8) Will you, as a Mormon, please read the Bible cover to cover and ask God to reveal to you that it contains all of God's message to man and that parts are not lost or altered and that the Book of Mormon is false? (Answer)

9) There will be no marriage or giving in marriage in heaven, but you don't care what scripture says, only what J. Smith says. (Answer)

10) If marriage here on Earth is so important, why was Jesus Christ never married? (Answer)

11) Doesn't the Bible teach against modern prophets?   How can there be modern prophets?  Isn't this non-biblical heresay?  There were to be no more prophets after Christ  (Answer)

12) Didn't Christ say that there would be no prophets after John? (Answer)

13) Doesn't Paul condemn plural marriage in the New Testament when he says Bishops should only have one wife? (Answer)

• Doesn't the JST violate Revelation 22:18-19?

Intolerance, Sexism, and Racism

• Do only Mormons go to heaven?
• Are Mormons prejudiced against blacks?
• Since women can't receive the priesthood, doesn't that make the church sexist?
• Does the church hate homosexuals?
• Do Latter-day Saints despise other Christian denominations? Do Latter-day Saints believe that they are the only Christians? (Answer)
• Why do you send missionaries to preach to other Christians? (Answer)
• Do Mormons believe that Blacks are the representatives of Satan? (Answer)
• Why does the Book of Mormon teach that people with dark skin are cursed by God? (Answer)
• Do Latter-day Saints believe that black is a disadvantage? (Answer)
• Why did Brigham Young teach that interracial marriage was worthy of death on the spot? (Answer)
• In the temple, do you teach that husbands get to decide if their wives will be resurrected and enter the celestial kingdom?  Isn't this just a psychological ploy to keep your women in line? (Answer)
• If the Book of Morman is true, why is it that when an Indian becomes a Morman why doesn't he turn white?  ( 2 Nephi 30:6 - prior to 1981 revision) (Answer)