The following is help for doubting Mormons. After a complete reading and note-taking on every section of the Book of Mormon, Doctrines & Covenants (D&C), and the Pearl of Great Price, the following is to help those doubting the Mormon faith and the LDS church.
The Gospel and the Accursed
Foremost, the Christian must have believe and confess the Gospel — the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:1–4). The believer must die with Christ, be buried in baptism with Christ, and rise with Christ into the newness of life (Rom 6:1–7; Col 2:12–13). While most Mormons recognize this gospel, they do perceive the effect of additional beliefs about Jesus being another God or that God gave another testament to humanity.
One must become aware of subtle ways that some drastically change the gospel. Altering the nature of Jesus’s resurrection affects one’s view of the mission of Jesus coming to earth, Jesus’s sinless nature, Jesus’s deity, the infallibility of Jesus’s words and the whole Bible, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and the nature of the afterlife. The apostle Paul revealed,
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Gal 1:8–9)
This passage is a point of struggling of the Mormon faith. How can an angel bring another testament? Should a Mormon become concerned knowing that Satan appears as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14)?
Options and Consequences
The Mormon faith leads to four possible options: (1) If the LDS church is right, then a believer would go to the highest Heaven. (2) However, if someone were just a Christian who rejected the LDS church and was wrong, then that individual would go to the third level of Heaven. (3) If the LDS church is wrong, then the New Testament affirms that person would go to Hell (Gal 1:8–9; 2 John 9). (4) If someone were a New Testament Christian and that church was right, then this person would live with God and Christ for eternity.
Doubts and the Mormon Faith
This plea to Mormon friends is that if any Mormon has the slightest of doubts, they should at best become a New Testament Christian and only be a part of the church of Christ as presented in the New Testament. They should seek to restore the church that Christ built and obtained by his blood by following the words of Christ (Matt 16:18; Acts 20:28). The devotion of their families can increase in simple and deep faith by relying on Christ and His words to His apostles. This is an exhortation to all believers in Christ to diligently seek salvation in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mormons are certainly putting their souls at stake for accepting a different gospel and disregarding that Jesus declared, “my words shall not pass away” (Matt 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33).
LDS Theology
Those doubting the Mormon faith should study the theology and apologetics of the LDS church. The website fairmormon.org presents an apologetic defense of the Mormon faith. This site addresses the apparent weaknesses of Mormon beliefs. The Fair Mormons website for Mormon apologetics is the very good for demonstrating how Mormons should turn to become simply New Testament Christians. However, this is not the official site of the LDS church. If someone seeks to help a Mormon friend or relative, then they can hand them a printed article from Mormon theological and apologetic literature.
[Update 10/5/19: Another site to consider is the official site of the LDS church and its teachings on theology: https://churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrinal-mastery-core-document-2018/doctrinal-topics and https://churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/intro.%5D
LDS Concerns
They can find articles addressing the following concerns:
The LDS scriptures assert that followers of Christ have mistranslated and changed the traditional-apostolic Scriptures (1 Nephi 13:26–34). However, the Christian Scriptures with its numerous manuscripts throughout the centuries reveal that Christ’s followers did not alter His words or the Apostles’ doctrine.
- Jesus revealed that His words would never pass away (Matt 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). His words will judge the world on the last day (John 12:47–48), and only His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). Jesus gave these words to His Apostles who wrote them in the Bible (John 15:20; 17:8). The Bible is written so that someone can know that one has eternal life, can become complete, and remain equipped to do every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17; 1 John 5:13).
- Note the condition of the OT and NT Scriptures. The OT Scriptures are affirmed by the fourth-century-BC Septuagint and by the Dead Sea Scrolls of second century BC that present how believers delivered the tenth-century Mesoretic text in pristine condition. Concerning the NT Scriptures, there are more than six thousand Greek manuscripts of the New Testament Scriptures and fifteen thousand manuscripts in other languages ranging from the time of the late first century to the fifteenth century AD (Metzger).
- Note the previous post about the formation of the apostolic collection of the New Testament in the first century, “The Formation of the New Testament Scriptures,” or the academic source Systematic Theology by Grudem.
Joseph Smith stated that he is to take God the Father’s place and that he is better than Jesus.
- D&C 112:15 affirms that God will always be with Joseph Smith Jr. and n one can take the keys from him. D&C 132:46 affirms that Joseph Smith has the authority to set doctrine and that what he binds is eternal. D&C 132:59 affirms that Joseph Smith will not sin in everything that he does in the name of God.
- Joseph Smith Jr. asserted, “God made Aaron to be the mouth piece for the children of Israel, and He will make me be god to you in his stead, and the Elders to be mouth for me; and if you don’t like it, you must lump it” (History of the Church, Vol. 6, pg. 319–320).
- While preaching against allegations against him on Sunday May 26, 1844, Joseph Smith stated, “God is in the still small voice. In all these affidavits, indictments, it is all of the devil–all corruption. Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet…” (History of the Church, Vol. 6, pg. 408–409).
- The “revelation of God” in D&C 47 commanded the writing of the History of the Church (“HC”).
- In HC 1:28, Joseph Smith said that he was very sinful from age 14 to 18 and that one called of God like him should have such sins though he clarifies that these sins were not great sins. This statement along with Joseph’s statement above present greater sins as he portrayed himself as greater than Jesus. Are these the words of a prophet of God?
LDS Scriptures declare that there are many gods yet it also declares that there is only one God while the Bible always taught that there is only one God.
- D&C 121:32 and 132:18–20, 37 affirm the plurality of gods while Alma 11:27–39, 44; 2 Nephi 31:21; 3 Nephi 11:27; Mormon 7:7; D&C 20:28; and Moses 1:6 affirm that there is only one God who is the beginning and the end — the first and the last — and none other besides Him. These passages also declare that God is one who consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- The Bible affirms that there is only one God and that there is no other before or after Him and that there is none like Him (Isaiah 43–45).
The LDS church usurps Joseph Smith’s authority as revelation.
- D&C 132:46 asserts that Joseph Smith has the authority to set doctrine and that what he binds is eternal, and in this very chapter, Joseph presented that men have a right to have a plurality of wives as long as they are given to him by God (v61–62).
- D&C 134:7 also affirms that the government of the state does not have the right to take away any of the rights and privileges of their religious belief.
- The Official Declaration 1 of D&C commands by the president of the LDS church, Wilford Woodruff, that polygamy should not be practiced, encouraged, or even taught. The president commanded this as the highest authority of the LDS church on behalf of God.
The acceptance of Muhammad having inspiration from God, and that his text, the Qu’ran, is also a revelation from God. The Qu’ran teaches against the historical fact that Jesus died, was buried, or rose from the dead.
- On September 2, 1883, LDS Apostle George Q. Cannon professed, “I believe myself that Mahomed, whom the Christians deride and call a false prophet and stigmatize with a great many epithets – I believe that he was man raised up by the Almighty, and inspired to a certain extent by Him to effect the reforms which he did in his land, and in the nations surrounding…I believe many men were inspired who lived after him and before him, who, nevertheless, did not have the Holy Priesthood, but were led by the Spirit of God to strive for a better condition of affairs and to live a purer and higher life than those by whom they were surrounded were living. But while this was the case, it was the Spirit of God that did it” (Journal of Discourses, 18:371).
- On February 15, 1978, Spencer J. Palmer of the First Presidency stated, “The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God’s light. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals…Consistent with these truths, we believe that God has given and will give to all people sufficient knowledge to help them on their way to eternal salvation, either in this life or the one to come.”
Other significant instances where there are contradictions between the Bible and the LDS scriptures.
- LDS Scriptures state that polygamy is right before God and promotes the practice: D&C 132:1–4, 38–39, 61–62. Other LDS passages teach that polygamy is wrong before God: Jacob 2:23–24, 26–28; Jacob 1:15; Ether 10:5; and D&C 49:16.
- In the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 29:6 gives warning unto those who believe that “miracles” will someday cease though Mormon 9 states that miracles and revelations will cease because of the greatness of sin.
- In the Bible, Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44 states that there were three hours of darkness at Jesus’s crucifixion, but in the Mormon book, Helaman 14:20 and 27 state that the darkness lasted for three days over the whole earth.
- In the Mormon writing of Ether 1:34–35, the Jaredites had their own language at the tower of Babel when not yet confounded, but in the Bible, Genesis 11:1 states that “the whole earth was of one language” at the time of tower.
- In the Bible, 1 Samuel 9:9 says that seers and prophets are the same, but in the Mormon book of Mosiah 8:15, a seer is greater than a prophet.
In conclusion, everyone must seek out the truth and Mormons would live in comfort by becoming simply New Testament Christians. Everyone must start with Christ and follow Him to His Church.
The Breath of God 
A wonderful read for those of Mormon faith.
https://carm.org/is-mormonism-christian
“Mormonism has undermined the authority and trustworthiness of the Bible. The 8th Article of Faith from the Mormon Church states, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.” This means that when the Bible contradicts Mormonism, the Bible isn’t trustworthy. This allows them to say and teach whatever they want even when it contradicts Scripture.”
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (2 Timothy 3:16)
Do not twist the words of God’s Holy Scripture to match Joseph Smith’s false theology. Study the Bible in it’s entirety and pray that God’s glorious grace be poured out on you so that you might find righteousness with brothers and sisters in Christ the only way any of us sinners can: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Well I will just leave you with this since you still claim that my faith in God is faulse.
I love Jesus Christ, and by his church, even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and building my foundation upon the Prophets and Apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone (ephes 2:20) I have over come lustful ways after 2 years of strife and suffering, buy only by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood (hebrew6:20, 7:21) which comes only by the power of God. By the example of love and through his atonement, I have found the ability to forgive my father who was a drunken abuser, and now live peacefully together with him. From the teachings of the Lord Jesus through his restored church I have separated myself of things unclean such as tobacco and alcohol D&C sec 89. Only by God are these things possible. I tell unto all any church or chuch leader who proclaims not the word of Christ, but goes about proclaiming anything else but repentance is not of God. Matt4:17
If the message is not if love and endurance, that message is not of Christ.
I am more than capable of tearing down others faith who are not of my faith, but instead I would rather build upon that faith that it be stronger, and unwaivering matthew7:24-29 for out of charity I would do these things. For you might not but Joseph, Brigham, and the current leaders of the church today are not paid ministers, like unto 100% of all other creeds of religion so you see it is out if love for the Savior that the work goes forth not out of greed of temporal things. (john10:11-13) (Joseph gave his life for Jesus)
I would also where it is said Joseph claimed to replace God was not a litteral meaning, but telling the saints because they were in iniquity, that they were not ready to see God, not even ready to be in the presense, so Joseph was giving a parable how God made Aaron the mouth piece of Moses, Moses talking to God himself it’s like Moses was God to the Israelites. Because God normally calls a Prophet and the prophet speaks for God instead of God speaking to the prophet the prophet speaking to another mouth piece or priesthood holder and then that person talking to the congregation. He was not saying that he would literally replace God, but since God was talking to Joseph and then he said to the Elders what was being said, then the Elders would tell the congregation he felt that Joseph himself should be talking to the congregation that he said he was like god (notice the lowercase “g”) Jesus himself taught this John10:34)
Now touching on the matter that Joseph said he has done a greater work, he has he did keep the Saints together, and through his death the church exists today. Jesus died on the cross, and suffered in Gethsemene that we might be forgiven, which there is no greater sacrifice. Joseph died that people would know he died in that very name, proclaiming peace and love fir the Lord Jesus Christ. Now can you say because Joseph was not perfect he was not a prophet? Then you say Moses was not a prophet and the Bible is faulse from the very first Book. Numbers20:8-12
As for the Bible not being in harmony with the LDS scripture, I’m sure you can go to atheist web sites and they can show Billions of times the Bible contradics itself.
Also if you want to go even further to destroy the kingdom of since you wish to destroy his words by the prophet Nephie, Mormon, Moroni, etc you can say Jesus was no different than the Egyptian gods (watch zeitgeist) BUT I say unto it is by faith we know the Book of Mormon is true. Latter-day Saints love God, love Jesus, and respect Joseph as an equal to Moses, Abraham, Nephie, Peter, Jacob, and all the Prophets called of God.
Now for the whole Quran thing, I would read the Quran 1000000 times and enjoy it because he tries to tell the people to do good, instead of telling people to hate Joseph as what is trying to be done here.
I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know Joseph, by divine power from God translated the ancient testimony of Christ. I know Jesus lives, and lead and guides his church, even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know Thomas Monson is the current day Moses (or prophet) who speaks of the love from the Savior to his Children. I know the Bible is the word of God and it testifies of Prophet, Apostles, Jesus, even the Book of Mormon.
I invite all to seek knowledge from God and not of man. Read the Bible, and read the Book of Mormon, and ask God, in faith, if the Book of Mormon is not true? I promise that by the Holy Ghost he will manifest the truth of it unto you. Never seek the counsel of men, but the counsel of God, trust not in your own wisdom, but trust in God. I leave you with these things in the sacred name of our beloved Savior, the Almighty Jehovah, even Jesus the Christ. Amen
I agree with every thing you have said even what Joseph says. Jesus did not go to bring the wicked Jews to finally obey his law, even from day one when God hand fed them they raised up a golden calf. So yes Joseph did keep the church. But guess what he boasts in God because it is the Church of Jesus Christ. And since he is still man he is not always perfect in his wording as such the Savior.
Just to let you know that The church history is not one of the doctrinal books such as the Bible or D&C thus Joseph was not speaking on behalf of the Savior. So if condem The entire church, when the Bible says by their fruits ye shall know them, and the The Church of Jesus Christ has the largest welfare program, best choir, it’s the fastest growing, lowest divorce rates, etc. Not to mention even history proves the prophecy, IE: the dark ages then after the restoration there was technological advancement after another ( a marvelous work and wonder) the strongest families, most faithful youth, most religiously informed congregation, need I go on?
Also Joseph, by th hand of God bring forth the restoration but Jesus atoned for the sins of the world something Joseph himself proclaimed time and again, I can excuse his one joyous moment of finding joy that God chose him to bring forth the restoration with his blood (he was murder) and even after his death people would continue to try and call him a faulse prophet just because we was not perfect.
Also Gods word did not pass away. When we state “as far as the Bible is translated correctly we are not saying that it’s wrong in any way. We are saying that you can’t read it and interpret it your self just like it says in 2Peter1:20-21 that it must be by a prophet called of God.
I will not Bible bash with you, but if you can explain the Bible in it’s entirety as the fulness of the Gosple can down to every verse with the love and patience of the Savior as Joseph, Brigham, and Monson does today then I will lend an ear. But as long as you try to sit and bash 14 million peoples faith as you have here when clearly we are a happy joyous charitable people, which is something no one has ever done except people who are not of God then you will not get my time.
And as long as I live or you, or anyone else we are not saved because we have not met the judgment bar and sent to Gods hands so if you will tell me I am condemned you clearly do not understand the scriptures because if you claims you can pass judgement then not only do you claims to have as much knowledge as God by saying you know my heart and thoughts, and claims yourself God by passing that judgement.
But I now call to you repentance of this deed that you have placed an attack not only to me but a righteous man and over 14 million people
who are trying to better their lives and follow the admonition of Paul (article of faith 13)
If you wish to truly know my heart and wish to really bring people unto God and feel that The Church Of Jesus Christ, is not of God you will reply with love and patience, then you explain why you have attacked a church where people do many great things for mankind (we are first to arrive during disasters, and last to leave) proclaim the name of The Lord (the Church of Jesus Christ) and never make attacks of people of other faith rather find joy in other faiths. (and do not say you have not made an attack because preventing people letting people make their own decision by trying to sway then to me is an attack) Which is exactly CONTRARY to the way missionaries teach because they tell you to read the Book of Mormon yourself and pry to ask God if it’s true( last chapter in Book of Mormon)
Which is exactly how I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I read the entire Book and asked of God, and by the Holy Ghost he made his answer known. I also read the entire Bible, doctrine and covenants and pearl of great price, and not one of the four scriptures ever contradics the other. Not to mention I have read all the anti-Mormon or should I say Anti-Christ messages there are in existence, and only found hate and contention, which that is the spirit of the devil. For a good tree bringeth forth good and a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. (matthew7:8)
By what statement above in the article, do see any hate or contempt from me toward Mormons? Yes, there is a lot of hate directed toward individual Mormons, but not here. The only thing I detest here are the false teachings and I am compelled to address the LDS leadership as enemies of Christ and thus anti-Christ. I have sorrow for their followers.
Christ is the Head of the Church, His Church. He is the center of unity and Joseph Smith Jr. Christ is the restorer and not Mr. Smith. I abhor evil and I detest his teachings and his ways (Rom. 12:9). There is no reason for us to discuss the scripture until your basis of authority for your faith is Christ and His words given through His Apostles and prophets in the New Testament scriptures. Yes, the History of the Church (“HC”) is a text, which was commanded to be written by the “revelation of God” according to D&C 47. Therefore, Joseph Smith’s words are put forth boasting of his greatness above that of Christ and His Apostles is pride and evil from the heart. Jesus said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:18-19). The faith of your LDS leaders puts Joseph Smith in a place of worship being that he claims to be greater than Christ and His Apostles and yet you admit that he is a sinner, but Jesus was not. The LDS leaders and their teachings degrade the divinity of God and Christ as just gods among gods who regenerate throughout eternity. They place man on a path to be equal with God. This evil comes from their hearts.
The translations of Christ’s words do not concern us who go to the Greek text. We have these words not corrupted by the Catholic Church or whoever the abominable church is in 1 Nephi 13. Christ’s Spirit can interpret His own words, and the Saints can do this together without a manmade hierarchy.
Adherents to Christ’s Church give the more than the LDS church without a welfare program. These true disciples don’t make a show out of their worship (Matt. 6). The adherents have the lowest divorce rates. The LDS church cannot even begin to compare to these millions of Christ’s disciples.
Call it “bashing” or rebuking, but everything contrary to the words of Christ is false teaching. You would rather I not speak my faith and reveal those teachings that are contrary to the words of Christ. Faith will not allow that. “[H]olding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). The little charity that the Mormon faith puts forward comes from what little light they have from Christ not from Joseph Smith. The family values of Mormonism are in many points admirable and in ways abominable. All the good that comes from among the ranks of Mormons is by the little light of Christ that they can see from the New Testament scriptures and not a glimmer from the words supposedly revealed by Joseph Smith.
Yet, works will not save Mormons only Christ can do that. What good deed can you claim apart from Christ? “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” The LDS leadership bears the fruits of PR for a profitable social structure with a moral code for the sake of pride and power that relies on an invented faith of a misguided and deluded man named Joseph Smith who put himself above Jesus, God and Christ.
I plead with you to just be a Christian, not a Mormon, Baptist, Catholic, or Evangelical. Just be a Christian, a disciple of Christ, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ where He is the Head. Rely on His words as these words were given to His Apostles (John 17:8) that everyone who keeps Christ’s word will keep the Apostles’ words (John 15:20). For we know that the Spirit guided these men into all Truth (John 16:12-13), and that at no point in time from Christ until now has His words been lost from those who sought Him (Matt. 24:35).
Did God mean for you to hear this plea? Take care.
Jesus said that His words would never pass away (Matt. 24:35). Do you believe Him or “the Prophet”?
Do you believe “the Prophet” when he said, “Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet…” (History of the Church, Vol. 6, pg.408-409)? I plead with you to reconsider and save yourself, and do not lean on a feeling that cannot be testified by two or more witnesses to come from God. There is no feeling the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. First John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” First John 4:6, “We [the Apostles] are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints do still believe in all of the words of christ and do not believe that his words have “passed away” Since you believe in the bible so much, how can you counteract the fact that the church of jesus christ is built off of prophets and apostles (Ephesians 2:20) yet the churches you shared dont have this foundational part of christ church…. you also talk about how you “follow the words of Christ” yet you dont practice them.. the scriptures say clearly that you must be baptized by water and of the spirit to enter in the kingdom of god, and through the example of jesus christ, we read that a baptism must be 1. by someone who has the authority of god (the preisthood), 2. by immersion 3. with the holy ghost, which are all practices of the lds church. if you truly believe in Jesus Christ as your savior, you should read his words and actually follow them…
That’s irony. Jesus revealed all truth to His apostles and prophets (John 14:26; 16:12-13). They are the foundation of the church and Christ is the cornerstone not Joseph Smith’s claims (Eph 2:20; 3:3-5). The faith was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). We don’t need Joseph Smith’s words or another testament. The New Testament of Christ is the eternal covenant (Heb 13:20).
If the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is faulse, then in contrary to all your statements I feel the Holy Ghost, can over come all my weaknesses, as I follow the Prophet, feel Gods love more joyously. I find in all the texts of the Prophets the true meaning, not this obscure out of context mess you have made. Also find happiness and love that the Lord Jesus Christ shared to his disiples right inside the church and Its members, but when I talk to other church members they howl like dogs at fresh meat when I tell them im a latter-day saint and condem me to hell. Jesus never acted as such.
Scott,
I’m a Evangelical Christian who is currently enrolled in the Theology Program through the Bibile Institute in Vancouver, WA. At this time I’m enrolled in the Bibliology and Hermeneutics class and dealing with how we know we have the infallible and inerrand Scriptures. I’m becoming more and more interested in how to defend the faith as passed down to us from Jesus through the Apostles. Since I just “stumbled” across this article and do not have any real knowledge of the LDS, please expand on the second paragraph. I would like to understand more of what is meant by “if I was right” or “if I was wrong”. Perhaps you have some reference material I could pull up that would give me a basic understanding of this issue.
Thank you…Bill Brown
The Mormon missionaries and leaders told me that I would not go to Hell if I live by the Bible as it was (according to them corrupted). They told me that I would be saved in the 3rd level of heaven, while Mormons depending on being a man being married could get to the highest degree of heaven. Therefore, I reason then no one should convert to Mormonism since converting would only determine which level of heaven I went to.
I remember them specifically referring to 1 Corinthians 15:40-41 for NT support. This was certainly a stretch. There were different resurrected glories being the stars, the moon, and the sun.
In the Mormon scriptures from Joseph Smith (1843) in Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) Section 131, Joseph Smith said, “In the celestial glory there three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.”
D&C 76 has the most to say about this. This section says that those who reject Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit will be damned (verses 30-49) while everyone else will be saved to some degree, which may involve a “prison”. The degrees are shown in verses 70 and following. Search celestial glory and degrees of heaven for more.
Let me know what I can explain further.
Here are some official sources of the LDS church:
http://en.fairmormon.org/Bible/Three_degrees_of_glory_not_biblical
http://en.fairmormon.org/Swedenborg_and_three_degrees_of_glory
http://www.fairlds.org/Mormonism_201/m20112.html
http://en.fairmormon.org/Plan_of_salvation/Three_degrees_of_glory/Progression_between_kingdoms
I have no hate or malice in my heart toward the members of the LDS church. I care for them and want the best for them especially for their salvation. You’re right deacons are ages 12-14 in the LDS church and I met some of them. I met with all ages.
I tried to use sources easily accessible to the LDS that still have authority to faith though the LDS church is governed by an evolving fluid hierarchy with all control in beliefs and practices rather than Christ and His words. Please visit these sources especially http://www.fairlds.org. See Smith’s quotes in context (History of the Church, Vol. 6, pg.319-320, pg.408-409). The other sources are great for understanding their perspective for now.
Friend, do you expect Joseph Smith’s claims to be better than Jesus and to replace God will not be met with refutation? Do you think that Smith’s lies to deceive people from following the words of Christ (which are about non-existent in Mormon Scriptures) would not be addressed?
I see you have taken a lot out of context and without foundation. You say you met with the deacons of the church. The deacons are 12 year old boys so I wonder what kind of conversation you had. Your understanding of passages you quote are not the same as we teach. The manuscripts you suggest are unequivocal do not portray current traditional Chrisitanity the same way as seemto be suggesting. There is signifiant variance between them. Read Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus or JND Kelly’s Early Christian Creeds.
In short, as I read your piece I see many holes in your understanding and logic. While you acknowledge you are presenting your opinion, other readers should have benefit of the other side of the story which you do not provide. There is a lot of difference between what you say we teach and believe and what we say we teach and believe. I suggest readers go http://www.LDS.org for basic LDS beliefs or http://www.lib.byu.edu/Macmillan for teh Encyclopedia of Mormonism for additional LDS views on these subjects. If readers are relly into the discussion of Mormon apologetics (in-depth study and defense) they can go to http://www.fairlds.org.