Occasionally, I meet people who are part of the Church of Latter Day Saints, often called Mormons. They believe the Bible is God's Word. They're often nice people. They also believe in extra revelations from Joseph Smith, various writings, and the teachings of L.D.S. Chuch.
While they said they're Christian, their beliefs are very different from those of even the earliest Christians. We're commanded to apply the Biblical tests for whether a prophet is real or not to Joseph Smith and his claims. Especially comparing his claims to God's Word: the ultimate authority. If you're LDS, did you test Smith? Did they even tell you that there's Biblical tests for prophets?
If speaking of or for God, we're commanded to test the source and the claims. In Deuteronomy (13/18) and Acts, we're warned to test everything against the existing Word. God guarantees real prophets make no mistakes because He ordered them executed for even one failure. Paul also also said don't believe a different gospel even if an angel of light appears to share it with you.
Joseph Smith said his new revelation came from an angel, it contradicted prior beliefs from God to salvation, he worked no miracles to prove divine power, there were no prophecies about this, and the Book of Mormon's historical claims keep getting debunked by archeologists (unlike the Bible's). If such problems exist, God's Word says He is a false prophet that we must avoid.
We won't take the critics word for it. Let's look at his delivery method and doctrines side by side with what's in the Bible. We'll rely on God's consistency (1/2). We'll also look at pagan religions to see what beliefs Satan normally promotes to see if L.D.S. beliefs are pagan.
(Note: I'm using the ESV in the links due to high accuracy and beautiful wording. LDS approves it. The linked site has the KJV and others if you want to cross-check it.)
Christianity
Christianity says the Bible is God-breathed, a living thing (ESV) that pierces our hearts, sent for a specific purpose, and that's to primarily to tell us about Jesus. The Apostles were hand picked by Jesus, most living with him. They fulfilled prophecies, delivered more that were fulfilled, and worked piles of miracles to prove we should trust them. They lived selflessly, some martyred. Revelation declared the ending of the story which made people think no new Scripture was coming.
The Word of God was delivered supernaturally to prophets who wrote it down or dictated it to scribes. They used existing materials of the time with the existing languages of God's people (Hebrew/Aramaic) and, later, the common people (Koine Greek). The manuscripts are more reliable and numerous than any other ancient manuscripts accepted by historians, like Aristotle. Both Christians of many denominations and atheists rigorously tested them for accuracy. Eventually, scholars put manuscript copies online (example) for independent review. The Bible's integrity is provably astounding.
(Note: Anyone wanting the full details of how the Bible was made can read From God to Us . It's amazing.)
Latter Day Saints
L.D.S. believe what the eighth LDS Article of Faith states: "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly." That means they have to accept its claims above. Per their web site, they treat all of these to be Scripture: The Book of Mormon, the Doctrines and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the teachings of Mormon Prophets. Like the Bible, they claim these are authorative works from God which we must all obey.
On the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith said they received it on golden plates with "Egyptian characters" from an angel around 1830 (History of the Church 4:537). That's around two thousand years after Bible was written with a totally-different method than prior Scriptures. People pointed out that gold is heavy and too brittle for writing. Further, the dimensions from LDS's metallurgist, Read H. Putnam, both implied that the angel engraved 7.35 pages of paper text per plate onto 40 plates and must have used a speculative, early-American techology (tumbaga). Other L.D.S. believers countered Smith on the material or required 187-259 plates with mathematical evidence.
So, one man and his buddies show up claiming they have new Scripture on sketchy, golden plates written in characters from a country opposing God. He claims higher authority than all prior preachers, nobody can disagree with him, all must join his church, be re-baptized, give him tithes, and all future matters will be settled through revelations to him and his church (i.e. Doctrines and Covenants).
To Christians, Smith looked like a cult leader. They still tested Smith's claims. We will, too.
In false religions, from Catholicism to Hinduism, people have to do enough good works or rituals to earn (or keep) salvation. They have to depend on a specific church or person: the priests, Watchtower, Muhammed, etc. Maybe they can be better than other people who didn't do enough to make it. A prideful belief that would give someone something to boast about.
Instead, Jesus is constantly preaching the Gospel during His ministry. When asked, Jesus said the work that saves us is believing in Him. The proof is that many people were saved or forgiven (past tense) with neither baptism nor a lifetime of good works: the paralytic, the Demoniac, Samaritan woman, the forgiven woman, and thief on the cross. In Acts, his Apostles repeatedly preach the same Gospel that we're saved by the Cross of Christ.
False teachers quickly started promoting faith in Christ plus good works to earn or maintain salvation. Paul counters them hard in Romans 1-3 where he lays out how salvation works: our sin, all human works fail, Christ justifies us Himself, it's a gift, and not of our own works. Justification was explained in Rom. 3. I know former, L.D.S. believers who came to Christ simply by studying Romans on their own. Paul also taught that in Eph. 2, esp verses 8-9.
There's also consistency in salvation in the real Gospel. Paul says later in Romans 4 that, even in Old Testament, people were saved by faith alone. The works were an outgrowth of true faith. Also, Israel couldn't lose her salvation because God kept dragging apostate Israel back to Him. Likewise, Jesus Christ promised twice (1/2) to never let His followers go. He guarantees our inheritance by His power.
L.D.S. teaches only people that believe their message, are baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost "through the proper priesthood" are "conditionally" saved from sin. They have to keep doing the right works to make it to heaven. That is, L.D.S. teaches followers Christ's work on the cross, His gift, wasn't enough. Like Judaizers in Galatians 2-3, they are replacing Christ's work with their own which forfeits salvation. Why forfeits?
God's standard for salvation by works is total perfection: you can't commit even one sin. That's a mountain nobody can climb. Instead, God loved us so much that Jesus Christ came down from heaven to carry us up the mountain. He carries His lost sheep home by His own strength (perfect life). Unlike false religions, Christ gives salvation as a gift that He already earned for us. Why try to work up to heaven when Christ offers it as a "free gift?"
The entire Bible warns we have two choices: life or death. Most rejected God in the Bible with no second chances after death. Jesus consistently warns people they'll go into a "fiery furnace" whose fire never goes out. In John 15, Jesus says both that fake Christians will be burned and that the world will hate real ones because they hate Jesus Christ and anyone like Him. While Jesus did preach in Hell (a debated mystery), stories like The Rich Man and Lazarus and Revelation 14 show the wicked in Hell either never repent or aren't allowed to.
Sure enough, many rejected Jesus: his hometown; the Samaritan village; Chorazin and Bethsaida Jewish leaders and crowds. Even His disciples abandoned Him at the worst time. As predicted, the Apostles were treated like scum of society. What about today?
From education to entertainment, most of whats taught worldwide is non-Christian. Often full of sin which they call entertainment. Despite Billy Graham and others reaching 100+ million, over 3 billion people reject the true God. They even censor the Gospel. So, Hell will be filled to the brim with billions of people. Jesus said most won't repent.
The majority of "churches" are mere social clubs filled with faithless people. Facing Christ on Judgement Day, some will argue they should get in because they sat in churches every Sunday, gave money, or did good works. They just didn't repent and follow the Gospel. Jesus will say, "I never knew you."
L.D.S. doctrine states: "Almost every person who has ever lived on the earth is assured salvation from the second death." That immediately contradicts both the entire Bible and observed reality. Also, L.D.S. says whoever dies gets to hear the Gospel to be saved. Those who don't repent, but weren't "sons of perdition," get freed later to go to a lower heaven. Again, contradicts 200+ verses by Jesus on Hell. Even worse, it leads people to Hell by letting them think they don't have to repent. When did Jesus forgive the unrepentant and faithless?
For our works, those verses are about sanctification, not justification. God's Spirit daily transforms us to be like Christ. God also rewards good works in eternity while disciplining our sins. He does it out of love for adopted sons and daughters He's already bringing to heaven. He also uses our good works to paint a picture of heaven on Earth, show Christ's power, and bless others. Per Jesus and James, real faith compels action.
(Note: God also gives spiritual gifts which didn't exist prior to conversion. Some are supernatural. I've experienced those maybe five times on top of the regular gifts.)
On L.D.S. differences, the L.D.S. missionaries I listened to described sanctification similarly. I haven't researched it much further past requiring us to rid our lives of sin to experience more of God. That's Biblical. I did notice that their sanctification page claimed to come from the authority of L.D.S.'s, twelve "Apostles." We'll dig into them further down.
To start with, the Bible says there is one God. He's a Spirit. When comparing to Jesus' body, Scripture adds that spirits have no body and that God is invisible (again). He says He is one Lord/God here, here, and here. There is no one else (no other God) and "none beside me". He clarifies in Isaiah here there was no God before Him, none like Him, and no God will come after Him.
God is described as our Father, Savior, and Shepherd... all terms Christ identified as later. God's the singular, most-perfect Being in existence who created us to glorify His name. He Himself saves us for His name's sake.
After warning everybody, He also disciplines Israel and punishes foreign nations (example) for idolatry. The pagans they were in bed with (figurative/literally) worshiped many gods (all false), believed man could become a god, or said there's no god. Many add a goddess or mother god that shares credit with or dominates the male god. Many say we become gods or like gods in this life or the next. All the opposite of God's Word which Satan always flips. Even today, pagan religions, atheism, and feminism teach those same things.
L.D.S. doctrine claims there's three, separate beings (or three gods). They all have physical bodies, not just Jesus. There's also a Heavenly Mother in their beliefs.
Some argued that some sections talk like God takes human form in the Old Testament either literally or metaphorically. We do not build doctrines on ambiguous, highly-debated verses. We interpret those using simpler, clearer verses. We also don't use them in core doctrine. Here's some verses on this to show they're unclear: Jesus said that God is spirit (bodyless); John said nobody had ever seen God; Law delivered to Moses by God or angels or both. The truth is a mystery.
We can see L.D.S. claims on gods have a ton in common with pagan religions but severely contradict Scripture. The Bible repeatedly says there's only one God. He's described in masculine form (He) across the Bible. He takes flesh as a man, Jesus Christ. We'll discuss the Persons of God (i.e. the Trinity) last, though, because other doctrines are easier to understand and test.
Scripture teaches that God created the first man in mortal form on Earth. He breathed life into him. We are initially created in the womb for an eternal relationship with God. Upon death, believers get a glorified body. With beautiful encouragement, Rev. 7:9-17 describes humans the same way they are on Earth. The only things they're doing are worshipping and praying.
L.D.S. doctrine says (pdf, p. 116) we're created as spirits in another realm, develop spiritually in that realm, knew Jesus Christ already, and took a body out of obedience to Jesus Christ. We're tested and further developed, like kids going to college, in this life before returning to Him. Upon death, we our ministry in the spirit world begins which includes women preaching the Gospel to spirits. Eventually, we become like gods.
How human life begins contradicts Genesis and other verses. The Bible also only describes God and angels in heaven early on. The Bible says we're judged on our actions in this life. Comparing it to a race, Paul writes like his ministry is over when he dies. It's very blasphemous to talk like people become gods given (a) only God gets to be God and (b) saints in heaven in the Bible are just people still begging God for help. While some claim Smith was misunderstood, prior writing by the Holy Spirit (i.e. the Bible) was very clear on this topic.
Actually, I'll link to Smith's description in case anyone wants to check it. Go down past "...ideas about deification introduced to Latter-day Saints" to "what kind of being is God?" Joseph Smith taught: "God 'was once as one of us'... That God set up laws to let us "advance like himself" and "be exalted with Him." He taught his assembly: "You have got to learn how to be a god yourself." Like pagan religions, Mormons are still taught: "As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be." (Lorenzo Snow, 5th President of L.D.S. Church) Again, the opposite of how the Gospel and Epistles describe man.
In the Bible, the word apostle can mean a missionary (Barnabas) or one of The Apostles (covenant initators). We capitalize Apostle for the Twelve, Matthias (replaced Judas), and Paul since they had special authority to initiate and prove the New Covenant. All except Paul were required to have seen Jesus Christ and have been personally trained by Him. Paul was added in Acts 9 by Jesus Himself, whom he saw", before being confirmed miraculously. They all preached the original Gospel.
All Apostles, plus the 72, worked miracles on demand to prove Jesus gave them their authority: the Twelve, the 72, the Apostles in Acts 5, and Paul in Acts 19. They were also Middle Eastern men, mostly Jews, living in poverty and great suffering.
L.D.S. claims a Quorum of Twelve Apostles. They were not witnesses to the resurrected Christ, preach Joseph Smith's teachings instead of the Bible's, have no supernatural power to confirm those teachings, are all white men, and appear to live very comfortably. I use these attributes to show they're the opposite of Biblical Apostles in almost every way. If any suffered, it could be God's wrath on false apostles.
(Note: I'll add that many false religions, esp Catholicism and the New Apostolic Reformation, like throwing the word Apostle around. They want people to think they have special authority that nobody can argue with. They're only men whom God's Word commands us to test.)
The Bible describes God creating everything from nothing by His great power: Genesis 1:1; Psalm 33:6; John 1:3; Romans 4:17. Heaven, Earth, "all things," and (in Romans 4:17) calls non-existent things into existence. It couldn't be more clear. From there, he also develops things gradually within His creation: nature's cycles; human development; our spiritual lives.
In pagan beliefs, there either was no creation story or there were many gods competing with each other for who would be dominant. Sometimes men become gods who can create worlds. Atheist philosophers claimed the universe, and matter, always existed with no creator. They mocked Christians right up until the Big Bang observations argued the universe exploded into existence out of nothing. While other religions were wrong, God's Word said He spoke the universe into existence before stretching them out like a canopy.
L.D.S. doctrine says God did not create something from nothing. M.R.C. reports that Joseph Smith taught God was like a shipbuider working with existing materials. They say that Brigham Young said, "To assert that the Lord made this earth out of nothing is preposterous and impossible. God never made something out of nothing." F.A.I.R. pretends the Old Testament "makes no direct statement of ex-nihilo creation," or creation from nothing. They're clearly contradicting the verses I cited which have an intuitive meaning. The M.R.C. link emphasizes God's Word shows God authored and controls everything while being dependent on nothing external to Him. Unlike the limited god of L.D.S., our God can sustain us forever because He created and controls everything with no exceptions.
We already covered God's Word saying each person is judged individually by their choice to accept or reject Christ. The Bible reinforced the notion that parents won't change that in many verses: sons aren't saved/damned by their fathers' choices; Abraham's obedience can't save his descendants. Further, there's no marriage in Heaven. God's plan was to use it, with sexual union, to fill the "Earth" whose people end up in Heaven or Hell. With no sex or marriage, there's no children born in heaven either.
L.D.S. says we can get our families into heaven (even "unsealed"), marriage can be eternal, still produce "spirit offspring," and that may or may not involve sex. Their wording often made people think so. While these contradict the Bible, they're similar to afterlife beliefs in Islaam, other religions, and Hollywood movies [which are beyond pagan]. On sex in the afterlife, pagan religions often have it and worldly marketing often uses implied sex (innuendo)... both as a lure for more conversions.
This powerful testimony by that's done with music. It's by Micah Wilder, former missionary for L.D.S., who met Christ while trying to convince a Christian pastor to convert to L.D.S.. The best part was the sound of his voice describing the moment he realized L.D.S. had him working so hard for what Christ already earned for him. The gift of salvation. Now, he serves out of gratitude.
(Best for last: the Persons of the Trinity. Well, best after our salvation which came first.)
The description above is from the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. As usual, they simply summarize a lot of Scripture with links to the verses. GotQuestions makes similar points in its article.
In Equippers' Groups's slides (pdf), they note that "God created us in his image - but is not like us." I underlined that to counter any false beliefs about people being or becoming like gods. Verses: Isa. 55:8, Gen. 1:26-27, and Num. 23:19.
L.D.S. churches say God the Father has a "body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's." They say the earliest Christians agreed with L.D.S. views about God. They claim Trinitarian views came from "later" Christians who mixed the Bible with "Greek philosophy." They called it the "Great Apostasy" which they say that Joseph Smith corrected. They cite no evidence for any of this, though. They used to teach God the Father was once a man like us but might have changed their teaching later on.
God's Word says the Father is a Spirit who has never been like us. We are created in His image with certain attributes He has, mainly morals. Jesus would have a physical, human body later. Additionally, for the early church and Christians today, our Trinitarian views are based solely on Bible verses. (We'll cover that later.)
While true prophets never change their doctrines, Joseph Smith and others changed theirs about God the Father being a man because false teachers change their stories when they get caught in lies. Like in marketing, they also change their teachings over time to be closer to what target converts (eg Christians) already believe. That increases "conversions."
Scripture describes Jesus as fully human. He was supernaturally born of a virgin to fulfill a prophecy by Isaiah. He was a carpenter. Like us, He got worn out, prayed in tears to God, experienced tempation, and was grieved by others' rejection of Him. This link describes how they tortured and murdered Him. That blood and water-looking fluid came out His side confirms He was both very human and very dead.
Scripture also says Jesus is the God. John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus said He's God here ("I AM" is God's name), here by saying they've seen the Father, that the Son only does what the Father does, and that Jesus confirmed Thomas saying He was the one God ('my God' - singular). The Jews show they understood Jesus' claim to divinity by charging Him with claiming to be God.
Jesus also does what only God can do: forgiving sins Himself; control nature (1/2/3); receiving worship. God says here and here that only He gets worship. Worship was rejected by the Apostles (ESV) and angels (ESV). Jesus accepted worship here as Son of God and here.
Jesus' Apostles, or founders of the church, added extra points. Paul says all things were created by and for Jesus. Also, he says Jesus is the image (exact likeness) of God whom the Godhead dwells in fully. He also describes how He created everything in a way reminiscient of Genesis 1. John did, too, in John 1:1-5. They write as if Jesus is the God.
Isaiah called God the Lord, King of Israel, the Redeemer (twice), and the first and the last (twice). Jesus is Lord (775 times), King of Kings, King of Israel, and our Redeemer. In Revelation, we see Jesus (God) is the first and the last: Rev. 1:17-18; Rev. 21:6; Rev. 22:13.
(Note: Even the early church knew Jesus is God. Ignatius cites John 1:1 around 140 A.D..)
Summary: God is saying in every way, except the most direct way, that Jesus is God Himself. He says He does it to test people's hearts. He also illustrates how we are to speak, pray, etc. Some of us also speculate that, since He lived like a man (even vulnerable), He had to delay revealing who He was so the authorities wouldn't kill Him before the right time (i.e. His ministry was complete).
L.D.S. doctrine says Jesus is not equal to the Father, He was one of God's spirit children, that he was preeminent among them, and offered to become our Savior in the testing ground. We've already countered spirit children as non-Biblical. Even so, the rest isn't in the Old or New Testament. Remember prior verses say there's one God. John 1 says Jesus was God Himself in Spirit form before the world existed. He, our one God, eventually takes flesh to atone for us since no natural-born human was capable of pulling off a perfect life.
One set of verses show He's fully man. Then, Jesus says He's God and acts like Him in other verses. This is why Christians say Jesus must be both fully man and fully God. He limits His divine nature to be more like us. I believe He also did it to show the rest of us humans how it's done (i.e. ideal servant).
The third reference to God is the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, Scripture makes the Spirit seem like an acting force of God. He moves across the waters in Genesis, comes down on people, and gives them gifts. The gifts include guidance, dreams/visions, knowledge, and the words to say. Other times, He does things only people can do. He teaches, speaks audibly here in Revelation, and can feel grieved by how we treat God. Another trait, which can go either way, is that He dwells in us to help us.
I'll add a metaphor. In the military, the Navy SEAL's are known for being effective teams. It starts in their testing process (BUDS) when each person is physically tied to another person, their "swim buddy." They do everything together. Since that's unnatural, they learn to get in sync in how they think and act. They become an extension of each other. The Holy Spirit in us is like God becoming our swim buddy. He's tied to us, ignoring Him hurts our efforts, and thinking/acting like He does makes everything smoother. If you know SEALs' reputation, how much more awesome is it that the God of the universe has tied Himself so closely to us to work His Plan in and through us?!
L.D.S. says, here and here, some similar things. Key differences are the claim that the Holy Spirit can only be in one place at a time. L.D.S. also keeps describing the Spirit as a companion instead of dwelling in us. The Word of God says that God is omnipresent. Also, that the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us. He must transcend the limitations of space. That not surprising since God created and sustains it.
I'll defer to GotQuestions article given they have a pile of Scripture to support the Trinity. Our doctrine page has many verses on the Godhead, too.
What you need to remember the most is that God's Word consistently and emphatically says there's one God. Then, keeps saying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each God. Then, describes them as seperate persons. So, man derived a doctrine, the Trinity, that says there's one God who is three Persons. We're simply describing the Bible's claims, not adding or subtracting. The "man from heaven," who is also God, told us God is three and one. Who are we to argue with God about who or what God is?
The writings of the early church showed they believed sub-teachings of the Trinity. I'll add that Ignatius was close to the Apostle John, either personally or in his spiritual lineage. Christians were regularly murdered in the Roman Empire. Only when Constantine made Christianity the official religion were pastors allowed to meet in public conferences to declare or debate doctrine. One that pastors had a consensus on was the Trinity: a description of what most already believed. Finally, this paper (pdf) has a massive number of quotes from early Christians supporting the Trinity, shows its development, and that it was delayed by persecution.
L.D.S. rejects the Trinity in favor of multiple gods that have unity in "purpose," not being. Also, we previously saw them claim early Christians didn't believe in the Trinity and that it was based on Greek philosophy. I think I've shared enough verses and quotes of early Christians to thoroughly refute that. Any scholar researching this would know these quotes because they were in many books, on popular sites, etc.
Many Christians have warned L.D.S. believers repeatedly with source material like I shared. They often run it by their elders, missionaries, etc. If L.D.S. is still repeating these false claims today, then L.D.S. leaders are provably intentional, consistent liars. Why would you trust anything else they say?
We've covered how Moses, Jesus, and the Apostles were confirmed by miracles. They were witnesed by entire countries for Moses and Jesus, neighborhoods for the authoratative Apostles. That Gospel got to thousands of people groups in 2,000+ languages, transforming the world. My question for L.D.S. believers: why would you trust Joseph Smith over all of those people? If he had contradictions and no miraculous confirmation, why would you trust him at all given Deuteronomy commands you not to?
Please repent by confessing to God you were tricked by a false prophet, ask for Jesus Christ's gift of forgiveness which He already earned for you by His blood, and commit to living exclusively by His Word. If you do this, you will have eternal life. He warned it may cost you big, esp if your family hates you. Jesus Christ is worth it. You also might be able to lead them to Christ, too.
We're praying for all of you, your families, and all the amazing things you'll do with the Holy Spirit. We ask that Jesus Christ opens the eyes of all L.D.S. followers to free their minds and save their souls. I ask in the name of the one, true God and Savior: Jesus Christ. Amen.
(Read the Gospel, see proof it's true, or learn to live it.)