Mormonism – Is it of God?

Mormonism – Is it of God?

1. God
   Mormons speculate about a divine mother in connection with God's fatherhood. The following are the words of a Mormon hymn:

   In the heav'ns are parents single?

   No! The tho't makes reason stare!

   Truth is reason; truth eternal

   Tells me I've a mother there.

   Jesus Christ
   "Jesus Christ was a polygamist; Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, were his plural wives, and Mary Magdalene was another. Also, the bridal feast of Cana of Galilee, where Jesus turned the water into wine, was on the occasion of one of his own marriages."
   "We say it was Jesus Christ who was married [at Cana, to Martha and Mary] whereby He could see His own seed before He was crucified. I shall say here that before the Saviour died He looked upon His own natural children as we look upon ours. When Mary came to the sepulchre she saw two angels and she said unto them 'they have taken away my Lord or husband'."
   Adam
   "In the Heaven where our spirits were born, there are many Gods, each one of whom has his own wife or wives which were given to him previous to his redemption, while yet in his mortal state."
   "When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him."
   " . . . Michael [the Archangel], or Adam, the father of all, the prince of all the ancient of days . . . "
   The Fall
   "Adam found himself in a position that impelled him to disobey one of the requirements of God. He and his wife had been commanded to multiply and replenish the earth. Adam was still immortal; Eve had come under the penalty of mortality; and in such dissimilar conditions the two could not remain together, and, therefore, could not fulfill the Divine requirement, [ i.e., to procreate ]. On the other hand, Adam would be disobeying another command by yielding to his wife's request. He deliberately and wisely decided to stand by the first and greater commandment; and, therefore, with a full comprehension of the nature of his act, he also partook of the fruit that grew on the tree of knowledge."
   Ultimate Reward
   " . . . would you, like your heavenly Father, prompted by eternal benevolence and charity, wish to fill countless millions of worlds with your begotten sons and daughters and to bring them all through all the gradations of progressive being, to inherit immortal bodies and eternal mansions in your several dominions? . . . The eternal union of the sexes, in and after the resurrection, is mainly for the purpose of renewing and continuing the work of procreation."
   Abraham's Faith
   "Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law . . . "
2. It will be appreciated by those familiar with Biblical teaching that the Mormon claim to "believe in the Bible insofar as it is translated accurately" is worth very little in the context of Mormon distortion of Biblical accounts. Until the authority of Scripture is established and the polygamous interpretations eradicated, little progress can be expected.
   
3. Despite the official change in attitude by the Mormon Church, plural marriage continues to be practiced in Utah. It is estimated that there are several thousand polygamists in Utah today.  Fundamentalists claim that for every "fundamentalist" Mormon discovered and excommunicated for polygamy there are ten Mormons in good standing who have more than one wife.  Whalen comments:
   "Throughout the west, they say, thousands of women known outwardly as widows, divorcees, spinsters, or wives of traveling salesmen or servicemen are actually plural wives. Attorney General Walter Budge of Utah has estimated there are at least 20,000 men, women and children living in plural marriages in his state alone. Newsweek magazine agreed with this estimate in an article on the polygamous Mormons in 1955 . . . It quoted State Attorney General E. R. Callister who said, 'Utah's jails aren't big enough to hold them all.'  Newsweekalso observed that many a Utah Mormon takes quiet pride in his polygamous forebears and is inclined to be lenient toward the Fundamentalists.'"
   Short Creek, Arizona, has been a famous Mormon Fundamentalist settlement. In 1953 warrants were presented for the arrest of 36 men and 83 women. Convictions resulted, but only suspended sentences were received since Arizona has no laws against polygamy. It is known that the Fundamentalists protect themselves by planted spies to tip them off about raids by the police departments.
4. Mormon missionaries distribute a publication, "The Challenge The Book of Mormon Makes to the World". Many of the thirty claims made in this tract are easily answered but some involve historical information. For those wishing to analyze the historical information cited, the following sources are helpful. They are listed in order of thoroughness of content:
   1. O'Dea, Thomas. The Mormons. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1957, p. 288. This book is a sociological analysis (without the anti-Mormon sentiment characteristic of Sectarian publications). The book is similar in style and treatment to Bryan Wilson's, Sects and Society. (Available from public libraries.)
   2. Whalen, William. The Latter-day Saints in the Modern Day World: An Account of Contemporary Mormonism. Notre Dame, Indiana: Un. of Notre Dame Press, 1967, pp. 319. (A paperback.)
   3. Fraser, Gordon. What Does the Book of Mormon Teach? An Examination of the Historical and Scientific Statements of the Book of Mormon. Chicago: The Moody Press, 1964, p.128. (A paperback.)
   4. Robertson, Irving. What the Cults Believe. Chicago: The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1966, pp. 9-30. (Available from public libraries.)
   5. VanBaalen, Jan Karel. The Chaos of the Cults. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1962, pp. 188-218. (Available from public libraries.)
   6. Fraser, Gordon. Is Mormonism Christian? Chicago: The Moody Press, 1965, pp. 7-115. (A paperback)
   (It must, of course, be realized, that these writers are not Christadelphians, and references to Biblical teaching must be cautiously and critically evaluated. Men competent in archaeology and anthropology may have no credentials for expounding Biblical teaching.)