BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY = An everlasting Gospel which has endured for “all generations”—never to disappear from the earth. Paul warned about those who would preach another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Corinthians 11:3-4). Jesus prophesied that the “gates of hell” wouldn’t prevail against His church, and in so doing, He ruled out complete apostasy (Matthew 16:18). Thus, the Gospel would never have to be restored (Jude 3). Ephesians 3:21 states: “to Him be the glory in the church…to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”1. How can an apostate church give glory to God throughout “all generations”?

GALATIANS 1:6-9: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.…but though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”2.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:3-4: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”

JUDE 3: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once [for all time] delivered unto the saints.” 3.

HEBREWS 12:28: “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

MATTHEW 16:18: “…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

EPHESIANS 3:21: “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. A-men”

1 TIMOTHY 3:15: “…that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

TRINITY: “I will preach on the plurality of Gods.…I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods.” —Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, 1976, p. 370

“In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted [prepared] a plan to create the world and people it.”—Joseph Smith, 1844, History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 308

“How many Gods there are, I do not know. But there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds.…”—2nd Prophet Brigham Young, 1859, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 333

“Joseph Smith taught a plurality of gods, and that man by obeying the commandments of God and keeping the whole law will eventually reach the power and exaltation by which he also will become a god.”—Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, 1954, p. 98

TRINITY: One God who is revealed in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

MATTHEW 28:19: “...baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

THE TRINITY IS NOT THE FOLLOWING:

PILLARS OF THE TRINITY DOCTRINE:

ISAIAH 44:6, 8: “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.…Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any.”

GOD THE FATHER: An “Exalted Man” who became God by obedience to the LDS “Gospel Plan”. He has not always been God, nor is he omnipresent (present everywhere) or omnipotent (all powerful). Not having the power to “create” the world out of nothing, God merely “organized” it with pre-existent material. He can only remain God as long as the “intelligences” sustain Him as such.

“Some would have us believe that God is present everywhere. It is not so.”—Brigham Young, 1859, Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 345

“It has been said, therefore, that God is everywhere present; but this does not mean that the actual person of any one member of the Godhead can be physically present in more than one place at one time.…plainly, however, His person cannot be in more than one place at any one time.”—James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, (1890), 1966ed., p. 43

“The greatest heresy found in Christendom is that God is a spirit, an essence that fills immensity.…”—Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p. 77

“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.…” —Doctrine And Covenants 130:22

“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!… I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man.…I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea.…he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did.…”—Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, pp. 345-346

“We were begotten by our Father in Heaven; the person of our Father in Heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His Father; and again, He was begotten by a still more ancient Father and so on, from generation to generation, from one heavenly world to another still more ancient.…”—Apostle Orson Pratt, The Seer, 1853, p. 132

“Yet, if we accept the great law of eternal progression, we must accept the fact that there was a time when Deity was much less powerful than He is today.”—Seventy Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, 1945, p. 114

“We believe in a God who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advance—a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow, whose glory it is their heritage to share.”—Apostle James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, (1890), 1966ed, p. 430

“God himself is increasing and progressing in knowledge, power, and dominion, and will do so, worlds without end.”—Apostle Wilford Woodruff (who would eventually become 4th Prophet), 1857, Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 120

“In the book of Abraham we have clear expression of the creative efforts of the Gods in organizing and forming the earth and heavens (see Abr.4:1). Such language assumes the existence of materials before the creation of this earth began.…The doctrine of creation thus taught in Abraham opposes the notion of a creation ex nihilo (literally, creation ‘out of nothing’).”—The Ensign, March 1997, p. 21

“…Elohim is God simply because all of these intelligences honor and sustain Him as such.…if He should ever do anything to violate the confidence or ‘sense of justice’ of these intelligences, they would promptly withdraw their support, and the ‘power’ of God would disintegrate.” —BYU Professor W. Cleon Skousen, The First 2000 Years, p. 355

GOD THE FATHER: In His very nature and essence God is a spirit—not a man. There was never a time when He did not exist, nor can there ever be a time when He will cease to exist as the one true God. He does not change or progress. In addition to being omnipresent (present everywhere), He is eternally omniscient (all knowing) and omnipotent (all powerful), and thus, He is not bound by the constraints of His creation.

I KINGS 8:27: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?”

ISAIAH 66:1: “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?”

JEREMIAH 23:24: “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.”

JOHN 4:24: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

LUKE 24:39: “…a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”

HOSEA 11:9: “…I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee.…”

NUMBERS 23:19: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent.…”

ROMANS 1:22-23: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man.…”

ISAIAH 43:10-11: “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”

PSALM 90:2: “Before the mountain were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”

HABAKKUK 1:12: “Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One?.…”

MALACHI 3:6: “For I am the LORD, I change not.…”

JAMES 1:17: “Every good gift…cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

I KINGS 8:39: “…give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest: (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)”

PSALM 147:5: “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”

GENESIS 17:1: “…the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.”

ISAIAH 40:12-14, 28: “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? …Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heart, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.”

JESUS CHRIST of Mormonism is not the same Jesus of Christendom. In addition to being “spirit-begotten” by Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother in the “spirit world” (making him the literal “spirit-brother” of Lucifer and every one of us), the LDS Jesus “earned” his godhood by obedience.

“In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints ‘do not believe in the traditional Christ. No, I don’t. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak.…’ ”—Church News, June 20, 1998, p. 7

“And virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ.”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 269

“The Father of Jesus Christ is our Father also.…Jesus, however, is the first born among all the sons of God—the first begotten in the spirit, and the only begotten in the flesh. He is our elder brother.…All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally sons and daughters of Deity.” —Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 4, 1992, p. 1670

“As for the devil and his fellow spirits, they are brothers to man and also to Jesus and sons and daughters of God in the same sense that we are.”—Historian John Henry Evans, An American Prophet, 1933, p. 341

“By obedience and devotion to the truth he attained that pinnacle of intelligence which ranked him as a God, as the Lord Omnipotent, while yet in his pre-existent state.”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 129

JESUS CHRIST: The Bible warns about those who would proclaim a different Jesus other than the Jesus of the Bible. Far from being our so-called “spirit-brother” who earned His Godhood by obedience, there was never a time when Jesus did not exist as the one true God who created everything—including Lucifer and his angels.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:3-4: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached…ye might well bear with him.”

JOHN 8:23: “And he [Jesus] said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”

HEBREWS 7:3: “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.”

COLOSSIANS 1:15-18: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.…that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.”

JOHN 1:1, 3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.…All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

JOHN 17:3: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

1 JOHN 5:20; 1:2: “…we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life....that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.…”

JESUS CHRIST’S “appointment” as Savior was contested by Lucifer who (along with Jesus) presented a Gospel plan for the salvation of mankind. Jesus’ plan was chosen over Lucifer’s plan because it allowed for “free agency” (free choice).

“The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitions, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind.”—Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through The Ages, 1945, p. 15

“Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, ‘Here am I, send me’ (Abraham 3:27).… Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, saying, ‘Behold, here am I, send me.…Satan wanted to force us all to do his will. Under his plan, we would not be allowed to choose. He would take away the freedom of choice that our Father had given us.…After hearing both sons speak, Heavenly Father said, ‘I will send the first’ (Abraham 3:27). Jesus Christ was chosen and ordained to be our Savior.”—Gospel Principles, 1992ed., pp. 17-18

JESUS CHRIST was never in a contest with Lucifer over who would be “Savior,” for only God can be Savior. Thus, Jesus being in very nature God is the only one who would qualify to be the Savior of the world. Lucifer was cast out of Heaven for endeavoring to become “like” God—not for rebellion when allegedly offering an alternative “plan” of Salvation.

ISAIAH 45:21-22: “…there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look to me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

ISAIAH 43:11: “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”

ISAIAH 14:12-14: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

JESUS CHRIST began his mortal probation (earthly life) with Heavenly Father visiting Mary to produce the body of Jesus. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. Following the example of our Heavenly Father who (according to Mormonism) has many wives, some Mormon authorities have taught that Jesus was also married to multiple wives.

“When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost.” —Brigham Young, 1852, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50

“Christ not begotten of the Holy Ghost.…Christ was begotten of God. He was not born without the aid of Man, and that Man was God!”—Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith (who later became 10th Prophet), Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, 1976, p. 18

“If none but Gods will be permitted to multiply immortal children, it follows that each God must have one or more wives.…The fleshly body of Jesus required a Mother as well as a Father. Therefore, the Father and Mother of Jesus, according to the flesh, must have been associated together in the capacity of Husband and Wife; hence the Virgin Mary must have been, for the time being, the lawful wife of God the Father.…He had a lawful right to overshadow the Virgin Mary in the capacity of a husband, and beget a Son, although she was espoused to another; for the law which He gave to govern men and women was not intended to govern Himself, or to prescribe rules for his own conduct.”—Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 158

“The man Joseph, the husband of Mary, did not, that we know of, have more than one wife, but Mary the wife of Joseph had another husband.” —Brigham Young, 1866, Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, p. 268

“When the time came that His first-born, the Saviour, should come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came Himself and favoured that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it.”—Brigham Young, 1857, Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 218

“God the Father is a perfected, glorified, holy Man, an immortal Personage. And Christ was born into the world as the literal Son of this Holy Being.…There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events.…”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 742

“…the great Messiah who was the founder of the Christian religion, was a Polygamist.…We have now clearly shown that God the Father had a plurality of wives, one or more being in eternity…and another being upon the earth.…the Son followed the example of his Father, and became the great Bridegroom to whom kings’ daughters and many honorable Wives were to be married. We have also proved that both God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ inherit their wives in eternity as well as in time.…”—Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 172

“A belief in the doctrine of a plurality of wives caused the persecution of Jesus and his followers. We might almost think they were ‘Mormons.’ ”—Apostle Jedediah M. Grant (First Counselor to Brigham Young), 1853, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 346

“It will be borne in mind that once on a time, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee…no less a person than Jesus Christ was married on that occasion. If he was never married, his intimacy with Mary and Martha, and the other Mary also whom Jesus loved, must have been highly unbecoming and improper to say the best of it.”—Apostle Orson Hyde, 1857, Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 259

JESUS CHRIST: Neither the physical human body of Jesus nor His spirit essence are the product of relations between Heavenly Father and one of His so-called “wives.” To teach such a doctrine is to disgrace the very nature of God who is a Spirit and not a man. Jesus is called the “Son of God” because He eternally shares the Divine nature of the one and only true God. He is the “Son of Man” because he took on an additional nature (the human nature) during His incarnation. Thus, Jesus is eternally the God-Man who is fully God and fully Man. The Holy Spirit is the one who orchestrated the conception of the human body of Jesus in Mary’s womb. Mary could not have been a true “virgin” if she had condescended to having relations with a so-called “exalted Man;” nor is there a single passage in the Bible that indicates that Jesus was married. Jesus was invited to the marriage in Cana of Galilee as a guest—not as the Bridegroom (John 2).

HEBREWS 7:3: “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.”

PHILIPPIANS 2:6-8: “…Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” 4.

HEBREWS 2:16-17: “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things.…” 5.

JOHN 5:18: “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”

JOHN 19:7: “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” (c.f. Leviticus 24:16)

COLOSSIANS 1:19; 2:9: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;…For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

1 TIMOTHY 3:16: “…God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

ISAIAH 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

MATTHEW 1:18, 20, 23: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.…the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary they wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.…Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

LUKE 1:34-35: “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

JESUS CHRIST not only had to work out his own salvation, but there are certain sins for which his blood cannot atone.

“Jesus kept the commandments of his Father and thereby worked out his own salvation.…”—Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, 1981, vol. 4, p. 434

“But man may commit certain grievous sins…that will place him beyond the reach of the atoning blood of Christ. If then he would be saved he must make sacrifice of his own life to atone—so far as in his power lies—for that sin, for the blood of Christ alone under certain circumstances will not avail.…Joseph Smith taught that there were certain sins so grievous that man may commit, that they will place the transgressors beyond the power of the atonement of Christ.” —Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 134-135

“But under certain circumstances there are some serious sins for which the cleansing of Christ does not operate, and the law of God is that men must then have their own blood shed to atone for their sins.”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 92

“There are sins that men commit for which they cannot receive forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they had their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be perfectly willing to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins.…It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it can never remit.” —Brigham Young, 1856, Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, pp. 53-54

JESUS CHRIST never had to earn his salvation; for although He partook of humanity, he did not partake of the deprived (sinful) human nature that every other human needs to be “saved” from. Being the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus is the only Savior whose blood is sufficient to cleanse us from “all unrighteousness.”

HEBREWS 4:15: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

2 CORINTHIANS 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

1 PETER 1:18-19: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

1 PETER 2:24; 3:18: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.…For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.…”

HEBREWS 7:25: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

1 JOHN 1:7, 9: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.…If we confess our sins, he is faith and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

ROMANS 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.…”

SALVATION: In Mormonism, “Salvation is twofold: General—that which comes to all men irrespective of a belief (in this life) in Christ—and, Individual—that which man merits through his own acts through life and by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.”—Joseph Fielding Smith, 1954, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p. 134

“Unconditional or general salvation, that which comes by grace alone without obedience to gospel law, consists in the mere fact of being resurrected. In this sense salvation is synonymous with immortality;…This kind of salvation eventually will come to all mankind, excepting only the sons of perdition.…Conditional or individual salvation, that which comes by grace coupled with gospel obedience, consists in receiving an inheritance in the celestial kingdom of God.”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 669

“Some of our old traditions teach us that a man guilty of atrocious and murderous acts may savingly repent when on the scaffold; and upon his execution you will hear the expression—‘Bless God! he has gone to heaven, to be crowned in glory, through the all-redeeming merits of Christ the Lord.’ This is all nonsense. Such a character never will see heaven.” —Brigham Young, 1860, Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 61

“One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation.”—Apostle Spencer W. Kimball (who later became 12th Prophet), The Miracle of Forgiveness, 1969, p. 206

“The second greatest heresy in Christendom is that men are saved by grace alone without works, merely by confessing the Lord Jesus with their lips.”—Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p. 77

“The Sectarian Dogma of Justification by Faith Alone has exercised an influence for evil.”—James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith (1890), 1966ed., p. 479

“This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.”—LDS Bible Dictionary, p. 697

“…for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”—2 Nephi 25:23, Book of Mormon

“After this instruction, you will be responsible for your own sins; it is a desirable honor that you should so walk before our heavenly Father as to save yourselves; we are all responsible to God for the manner we improve the light and wisdom given by our Lord to enable us to save ourselves.”—Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, 1976, p. 227

“…keeping the commandments of God will cleanse away the stain of sin.”—Brigham Young, 1853, Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 4

LDS GOSPEL PLAN — PRE-EXISTENCE: Mormonism asserts that humans were born first as spirit beings to heavenly parents in a “spirit world.” There each person exercised his “free agency” (free will) and chose whether he would follow Heavenly Father or Satan. One third of the spirits followed Satan and became the demons who are punished by forever being denied bodies of flesh and bones. The rest of the spirits who chose to follow Heavenly Father in the preexistence are rewarded by gaining a human tabernacle through physical birth. Those who were “most valiant” in the fight against Satan are rewarded with white skin while those who were “less valiant” are cursed with dark skin.

“ ‘We were made first spiritual [i.e. in heaven] and afterwards temporal [i.e. on this earth.]’ ”—Brigham Young, quoted in Joseph Fielding Smith’s Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, 1954, p. 97

“ ‘All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity’; as spirits they were the ‘offspring of celestial parentage.’ (Man: His Origin and Destiny, pp. 351, 355)” —Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 589

“In contrast to Lucifer’s plan of placing mortal beings on earth and bringing them back to God through no efforts of their own, Jesus sustained God’s plan.…To Him free agency was basic in furthering the growth of human personality.”—Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, 1945, p. 16

“Because our Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior, Satan became angry and rebelled. There was war in heaven. Satan and his followers fought against Jesus and his followers.… One-third of the spirits in heaven were punished for following Satan: they were denied the right to receive mortal bodies. Because we are here on earth and have mortal bodies, we know that we chose to follow Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.… When he became our Savior, he did his part to help us return to our heavenly home. It is now up to each of us to do our part and become worthy of exaltation.” —Gospel Principles, 1992ed., pp. 18-19

“One-third of the spirit hosts of heaven came out in open rebellion and were cast out without bodies, becoming the devil and his angels.…The other two-thirds stood affirmatively for Christ; there were no neutrals.…Those who were less valiant in pre-existence…are known to us as the negroes. Such spirits are sent to earth through the lineage of Cain, the mark put upon him for his rebellion against God and his murder of Abel being a black skin.…The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned…but this inequality is not of man’s origin. It is the Lord’s doing.…”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966ed., pp. 526-527

“The race and nation in which men are born in this world is a direct result of their pre-existent life.”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1986ed., p. 616

BIBLICAL GOSPEL — MAN’S ORIGIN: Clearly making a distinction between Christ’s pre-existence and mankind’s creation, the Bible reveals that man did not have a spiritual existence prior to his human existence. Far from the racist claims of Mormonism, the Biblical God shows no partiality between race of men, for all of mankind is regarded as equal in His eyes. According to the Bible, a third of God’s angels were cast out of Heaven for endeavoring to usurp God’s authority by following Satan whose desire is to “be like” God. This battle which occurred in the spiritual realm has absolutely nothing to do with the black race.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:46: “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.”

JOHN 8:23: “And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”

ZECHARIAH 12:1: “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.”

GALATIANS 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

COLOSSIANS 3:10-11: “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”

ROMANS 2:11; 3:22: “For there is no respect of persons with God.…Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.…”

ISAIAH 14:12-14: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:…I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

REVELATION 12:3-5, 7-9: “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon.…And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.…And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

LDS GOSPEL PLAN—MORTAL PROBATION: Claiming that: “As man is, God once was; as God is man may become,” 7. it is the goal of every faithful Latter-day Saint to earn his exaltation to Godhood by going through “mortal probation” (earthly life) and living all the “ordinances” of the LDS gospel. Asserting that Adam and Eve were unable to have children prior to Adam’s transgression, Mormonism teaches that the Fall of Adam was a necessary step in the Gospel Plan.

“…the Father’s pre-existent offspring were endowed with agency and subjected to the provisions of the laws ordained for their government.…The pre-existent life was thus a period —undoubtedly an infinitely long one—of probation, progression, and schooling.…Mortal progression and testing is a continuation of what began in pre-existence.” —Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 590

“Men came to earth consciously to obtain their schooling, their training and development, and to perfect themselves.…” —Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 7

“Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior, has given us our map— a code of laws and commandments whereby we might attain perfection and, eventually, godhood. This set of laws and ordinances is known as the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is the only plan which will exalt mankind.”—Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 6

“When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, they were not yet mortal. They were not able to have children.…God commanded them to have children.…God told them they could freely eat of every tree in the garden except one, the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”—Gospel Principles, p. 32

“Adam found himself in a position that made it impossible for him to obey both of the specific commandments given by the Lord.…He deliberately and wisely decided to stand by the first and greater commandment.…”—James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, (1890), 1966ed., p. 65

“The choice that they made raises Adam and Eve to pre-eminence among all who have come on earth.…The ‘Fall’ and the consequent redeeming act of Jesus became the most glorious events in the history of mankind.”—Apostle John A. Widtsoe, Evidences And Reconciliations, 1960, arranged by G. Homer Durham, p. 194

“In Joseph Smith’s philosophy of existence Adam and Eve were raised to a foremost place among the children of men, second only to the Savior. Their act was to be acclaimed. They were the greatest figures of the ages. The so-called ‘fall’ became a necessary, honorable act in carrying out the plan of the Almighty.”—John A. Widtsoe, Joseph Smith—Seeker After Truth, 1951, p. 160

“There are situations, however, in which it is possible to transgress a law without committing a sin, as in the case of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. (2 Ne. 2:22-23.)…It is proper and according to the scriptural pattern to speak of the transgression of Adam, but not the sin of Adam.”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 804

BIBLICAL GOSPEL — MAN’S HUMAN STATE: Although God created man in “his own image” (Genesis 1:26-27), it was never God’s intention that humans become God (Ezekiel 28:2, 8-9). The “image” that God gave mankind is a spiritual image of displaying God’s attributes such as love, peace, and righteousness (Colossians 3:10). Being perfect and complete in this state (prior to the transgression), Adam and Eve were able to have a relationship with God as there was no sin to separate them from fellowship with Him.

Since “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4) and “God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (James 1:13), God would never have placed Adam and Eve in a position where they would have to sin in order to fulfill His first commandment to have children.

Just as Satan desired to become “like” God (Isaiah 14:12-14) and gained a following among God’s angels; so Satan proceeded to entice Adam and Eve with the same lie: “…ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5) When Adam and Eve disobeyed by partaking of the forbidden fruit, their sin against God caused a break in fellowship with God with the result that all men are born with a sinful nature. The only way this relationship with God can be restored is through spiritual adoption out of Satan’s family (John 8:44) into God’s family (John 1:12). By following these two steps, one is able to “become” a true child of God:

JOHN 1:12: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.…”

COLOSSIANS 3:10: “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”

JOHN 8:44: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

GENESIS 3:4-5, 8: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.…And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”

ISAIAH 59:1-2: “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

EZEKIEL 28:2, 8-9: “Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:…They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.”

JAMES 1:13: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:”

1 JOHN 3:4: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

ROMANS 5:12, 19; 6:23: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;…For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.…For the wages of sin is death.…”

EPHESIANS 2:3: “…and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

PSALM 51:5, 9-11: “Behold, I was sharpen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.…Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God;…Cast me not away from thy presence;”

LDS GOSPEL PLAN - ETERNAL LIFE: Ultimate Salvation in Mormonism consists in earning an inheritance in the CELESTIAL KINGDOM (the highest of the three kingdoms in Mormonism). Only the most worthy Mormons will end up in this kingdom in which Mormon couples (who have been married for “time and eternity”) will continue on throughout the “eternities” producing “spirit children” of their own to fill planets like our earth to forever repeat the cycle of “mortal probation” and “exaltation.” The rest of mankind (except the “sons of perdition”—i.e., apostates) will end up in either the TERRESTRIAL KINGDOM (the place where both good Mormons and good non-Mormon people will reside) or in the TELESTIAL KINGDOM where wicked men such as murders and thieves will abide after they have been punished for their sins in a temporary Hell.

Those who died prior to having an opportunity to accept the LDS gospel are kept in a “SPIRIT PRISON” where they are taught the LDS Gospel and await entry into one of these three kingdoms after baptism “by proxy” has been performed for them by Latter-day Saints here on earth. Thus, Mormonism claims: “The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.…And so you can see how far you can be a savior.”—Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, 1976, pp. 356-357

“…though held captive in the spirit prison, these prisoners of hope looked forward with desire and expectation to their redemption.…a redemption that would be complete only after baptism for the dead had been performed for them in this mortal sphere where there is water.”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 601

“In the spirit prison are the spirits of those who have not yet received the gospel of Jesus Christ.…Also in the spirit prison are those who rejected the gospel after it was preached to them on earth or in the spirit prison. These spirits suffer in a condition known as hell.…After suffering in full for their sins, they will be allowed to inherit the lowest degree of glory, which is the telestial kingdom.” —Gospel Principles, 1992ed., p. 292

“Most of the adult people…will go to the telestial kingdom.…They will be the endless hosts of people of all ages who have lived after the manner of the world;…rather than accept the testimony of Jesus; who have been liars and thieves, sorcerers and adulterers, blasphemers and murderers.…Thus, for those who are heirs of some salvation, which includes all except the sons of perdition… hell has an end.…”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 778, 351

“In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is no hell. All will find a measure of salvation.…The gospel of Jesus Christ has no hell in the old proverbial sense.”—John A. Widtsoe, Joseph Smith—Seeker After Truth, 1951, p. 178

“To attain a terrestrial kingdom it is necessary to abide a terrestrial law, which consists in living an upright, honorable life but one that does not conform to the standards whereby the human soul is sanctified by the Spirit.”—Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 784

“Exaltation consists in gaining a fulness of celestial glory.…An inheritance in this glorious kingdom is gained by complete obedience to gospel or celestial law.…so celestial marriage puts a couple on the path leading to an exaltation in the highest heaven of that world.” —Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 116-117

“Benefits of Eternal Marriage… Some of the blessings we can enjoy for eternity are as follows: 1. We can live in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom of God. 2. We can be exalted as God is and receive a fulness of joy. 3. We can, at some future time, increase our family by having spirit children.”—Gospel Principles, 1992ed., p. 243

BIBLICAL GOSPEL — MAN’S ETERNAL DESTINY: Jesus contrasted the “wide” road that leads to destruction with the “narrow” road that leads to life. While there are degrees of punishment in Hell and degrees of reward in heaven, never does the Bible indicate that there are levels of heaven which all but a very few people will attain. There will be no second chance for those who reject Christ here on earth, for “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) Not only is it impossible for a man to “redeem his brother” through researching genealogy in order to be baptized on behalf of dead relatives, but it is impossible to obtain a so-called “celestial marriage” due to the fact that there will be no marriages in heaven.

MATTHEW 7:13-14: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

MATTHEW 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

JOHN 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

2 THESSALONIANS 1:8-9: “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”

MATTHEW 25:46: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

HEBREWS 9:27; 10:27, 29: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.…But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.…Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who…hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.”

REVELATION 14:10-11; 20:12, 14-15: “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God…and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image.…And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life.…and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

MARK 9:43-44: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

PSALM 49:7: “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:”

1 TIMOTHY 1:4: “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.”

TITUS 3:9: “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.”

MATTHEW 22:30: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”